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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24935752">Into The Shadows</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpellBinder_883/pseuds/SpellBinder_883'>SpellBinder_883</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shadowrun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bisexual Female Character, Breaking and Entering, Dystopia, F/F, Female Protagonist, Gen, Kidnapping, Magic, Magic-Users, Murder Mystery, Original Character(s), POV Female Character, Rescue, Rewrite, Smuggling, Theft, Urban Fantasy, Vandalism</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:00:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>114,605</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24935752</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpellBinder_883/pseuds/SpellBinder_883</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Not all shadowrunners are born in the dark, to their lives of crimes and deceptions.  Some are regular people, SINners, the wage slave, the corporate zombie that puts in 50 hour work weeks, and the college grad student with dreams of being the youngest master in their chosen field.</p><p>This is the story of a young woman as she beings her life in the light and learns about the world of the shadows she never really knew existed.</p><p>This is a rewrite of a story of mine, an alternate telling with a completely different cast of original (and fully statted) characters of my make.  Inspiration is drawn from the SRM modules, and credit goes to those writers whenever possible for their hard work.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Parliament Of Thieves</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Based on the mission written by John Dunn:</p><p>University life isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.  You’d think it was all parties and fun times, but I guess that died out a century ago to be replaced by dull lectures.</p><p>My name’s Sonya Abrams, but my friends just call me Shay.  Kinda comes from my initials.  Currently I’m a student at the University of Denver, trying to figure out my life while trying to survive my freshman year.  Right after an early graduation from high school way over in Seattle (a much better place, if you ask me) my parents decided to kick my ass out on the street.  It wasn’t like I was an ugly or ill-behaved kid; one classmate said I was a blond bombshell and his favorite color happened to be the dark blue of my eyes (really he was just trying to get into my panties).  Well, getting the hint that my parents didn’t want me in their busy little lives I decided to try and leave the country.  Seriously, if they didn’t want me then why’d they have any kids in the first place?  Lucky for them I’m an only child.  And yeah, Denver technically isn’t part of the UCAS, not since 2035 or sometime thereabouts.</p><p>So it’s the middle of March, spring is coming on, and my brain’s hurting with trying to understand algebra as I drop myself onto what passes for my dorm room bed.  Place isn’t much bigger than a coffin.  Just a place to try and sit, sleep, and do academic work after class.  There’s a co-ed shared bathroom on the same floor, and every floor, and on the second floor there’s a communal kitchen and dining area.  No, it’s not “cozy” or any cute little word you want to use, it’s a shit hole.  The walls have almost no soundproofing, there’s almost no hot water, and the central node isn’t just out of date but it’s actually ancient.  I think someone put the network in just before Crash 2.0 happened, and it’s never been updated since.</p><p>And to make matters worse I found I had been fired from my job this morning.  Shitty way to do it, too, by text.  I mean, c’mon, can’t you actually wait to tell me to my face like a decent asshole?  I found a pic of a really ugly troll’s ass, added a smack to it and the words “Kiss It!” and sent it for my final reply.  At least I wasn’t too hard up on cred, but I didn’t qualify for unemployment.  I had more than enough nuyen to cover rent for the rest of the semester easily, though I doubt I’d be able to afford a spring break trip now unless I could find anything for work within, oh, three hours ago.</p><p>That’s when the chiming tones of an incoming call started buzzing in my ears, a purple icon in my vision jiggled to the jingle, and the both added to my headache.  I was about to smack the [Accept] icon and tell the caller off when I noticed the cartoon cat icon of the incoming caller.  Made me wonder why Felix would be calling me now since I hadn’t even told him yet that I needed to find a new job that could work around my school schedule (he works at a job service on campus).  It’s a real pain in the ass that the professors expect you to sit down in a hot and stuffy room to listen to them drone on about stuff like theorems or how magic and the universe works (here’s a hint, it just does!).</p><p>With a mental click I hit the [Accept] icon and the cartoon cat got replaced with Felix’s mug, a little ARO that zipped down to the lower left side of my field of view.  He was a way older white guy, black hair and beard, and he kept it nice and short.  “Hey Tank,” he said, “heard from a coworker you’re in need of a new job.”</p><p>Yes, he just called me “Tank.”  Just like my name, after the Abrams tank the old United States used like a century ago.</p><p>“Yeah, well,” I say as I roll over from my back to lie on my stomach, “the boss was an asshole.  Wanted to fuck me anal.  Guess he finally got pissy enough that I wouldn’t put out that he’d fire me.”  All Felix would see was the ceiling of my dorm, though I knew he’d hear me well enough.</p><p>“And you’re going to let him get away with it?” Felix asked me.</p><p>“I’ll figure something out.”</p><p>“Well, while you do that I’ve got a job proposition for you.”</p><p>“Another McHugh’s needing someone to flip patties?” I asked him.  I wasn’t really enthused about doing something like that again.</p><p>“This’s a little more under the table.”</p><p>“Fuck no!  I’m not going to suck someone’s cock!”</p><p>“Whoa!  Whoa there kitten!” Felix exclaimed, “It’s not like that at all.  ‘Under the table’ means straight cash up front, no employment and tax forms to fill out and all that pain in the hoop red tape.”</p><p>“Hard currency?”</p><p>“Hardly.  It’ll be nuyen.  Just no paperwork.”</p><p>“That doesn’t sound… legal.”</p><p>“Well, if you declare your income to the IRS it’s completely legal.” Felix told me.  “And before you ask, I have no idea what the job is.”</p><p>“Wait, what?”</p><p>“Look, the pay’s gonna be good.  Just go to Club Denim over in the PCC side and meet with a Mr. Johnson there.  Think of it as an interview.”</p><p>“He’s interviewing me for this job?”</p><p>“That’s half true.  You gotta remember that you’re also interviewing him.” Felix told me.  “If you don’t like the proposal you can just walk, no harm, no foul.  It’s like contract work:  you agree to one job, one service, and you get paid whatever’s agreed upon.”</p><p>“I just have to go, and meet this guy?”</p><p>“Yup.”</p><p>“And if it’s illegal, or whatever, I don’t have to accept and I don’t get shit on like Becker did?”</p><p>“Exactly.”  While I was thinking about this Felix added, “Oh, you also won’t be working alone.  There’ll be others there for the same job.  It’s not a competition; you’ll be working with them, a team effort.”</p><p>“And I could walk if one of them were, like, creeping me out?”</p><p>“I’d probably not let Johnson know that.  Give a vague excuse and you should be fine.”</p><p>“Pays well?”</p><p>“Should pay rather well.  We’re talking four digits at least.”</p><p>My eyes went wide.  “Alright, I’ll give it a shot.” I said.</p><p>“Alright then.  I’ll forward you some info to your ‘link.  Oh, and I’d suggest you pack that pistol of yours, too.”  Without a goodbye the ARO closed, and almost right away a new message notice appeared.  With a mental click I opened the message from Felix.  It was a map of part of Denver with a little pin labeled “Denim @ 16.30” sticking out where I guess the club was supposed to be.  Guess I had to be there at four-thirty.</p><p>First up I tried doing a few searches on the club.  It was easy enough finding the address for the place, and a media site that had a trideo channel that had a whole bunch of recordings for different bands that played there.  Tribal rock stuff, not too bad.</p><p>Yeah, I got a bit distracted.  I got down to the wire before I changed my clothes; heavy black boots, black tight pants, a Seattle Seahawks shirt, and my Ace Of Spades jacket with a Kevlar lining (it looked like a really old fighter flight jacket, and it was insulated), got my gun (a Colt America, I think it was called), half a dozen silver rings I needed to work the spells I knew, and my red motorcycle helmet.  Then I went downstairs for my bike, an old Rapier made by Yamaha.  It’s used, been beaten, and the purple paint’s chipped off in a lot of places, but it works and could go farther on a tank of gas than most other bikes.  One nice thing about the dorm is that I don’t have to worry too much about security for my bike since there’s parking for everyone.  Now if only if it wouldn’t cost me a few thousand more to get it upgraded so it could synch with my ‘link.  Physical gauges are so last century.</p><p>It was a relatively easy trip to get down to the 25, and traffic was moving nicely and I made good time to the 25/70 interchange.  Traffic was practically a crawl at the border crossing.  Whoever had thought it was a good idea to split up Denver like this must not have believed in convenience.  I was told that years ago it was just lines on a map, but now there were fences and gates and patrols.  On the CAS side of the border here was a concrete wall ten meters tall and like fifty meters of clear ground before you got to it.  On the PCC side, about twenty meters away, they had a six meter tall concrete wall and topped with razor wire or something really nasty, and there was the same cleared ground there too.  Between it was technically the ZDF territory, a kind of international limbo that no country had jurisdiction on.  A few of the highways were between the fences too, called International Highways, and only the ZDF had jurisdiction on them.</p><p>Actually it wasn’t even CAS soldiers working the checkpoint, either.  Maybe they were CAS citizens, like I’m a UCAS citizen, but they were actually part of the Zone Defense Force.  Sometimes I wondered what it was like to work for a dragon.</p><p>Anyway, I was glad it didn’t take me too long to get through, though I think it was a lot more difficult before Ghostwalker came and took over the place (I was nine, and living in Seattle at the time), where you had to deal with a whole mess of questions like, “Where are you going?” and “Where are you staying?” and “Why the fuck are you wanting to come into this sector?”  Okay, maybe they didn’t ask that last one like that, but I’m pretty sure that’s what a lot of people would’ve been thinking.  I’m also pretty sure the border guard was leering at me the whole time.  Men are such pigs.  A cold wind coming down from the north didn’t help either.</p><p>It was well after four by the time I got to the club, and from the outside it wasn’t much to look at.  There was no AR anything for advertising or decoration, but the music was pounding so loud I could just hear it outside.  Just a blue neon sign saying “Denim” just above the door, and nothing in AR (talk about stone age here).  The parking lot was also rather empty, just a few cars and a pickup were in it.  I found myself a spot rather close to the club, and mentally clicked through the system settings of my commlink to set it to ghost mode (I didn’t want any creepers that might be inside getting any profile info on me).  I didn’t pull off my helmet until I was at the door at the corner of the ancient building.  My blond hair’s straight and I keep it short enough that I really don’t worry about helmet hair.  I think the style’s called a “bob” which I think is way better than something similar called a “pageboy” (both in looks and name).  With my figure if I had a tight enough sports bra I could almost pass for a guy, though my voice would give me away.</p><p>Inside the music was way louder, deep pounding drums with a screech of metal guitars blasting away.  The lighting was low and the place stank of beer and tobacco smoke, but at least it was warm inside.  There were half a dozen booths straight ahead of me, a few tables out in the middle that could seat a large family, several more tables for four, and way to the right was a bar with a bunch of stools.  Scattered about were maybe half a dozen men or so.  I think they were drinking off their day or something.  At the bar was a native woman, probably in her 40’s, and looked like she was wearing something like a light tan toga.  Her black hair was tied up in a style that made it look like she had short horns growing from the sides of her head.  Spaced about were a mess of vintage trid screens, most of them showing various sports casts while one had local news feed from the outside of a business called LuCom (some tech outfit a friend of mine was interning at).  Even with my ‘link ghosted I should’ve seen anything in AR, so this place was absolutely primitive.</p><p>Right now I realized I hadn’t a clue what I was supposed to do.  Felix had said that there’d be others, but no one here was with anyone else.  I had no idea who I was supposed to talk to, but I figured my best bet would be the woman behind the bar.  I based this off of those fantasy games a friend of mine would always talk about; the party going to a tavern to talk to the barkeep about an adventure.  Always seemed to be really weird to me how they got all their info that way.</p><p>“What’re you drinking?” she asked me just as I sat on one of the stools at the bar after putting my helmet down on the floor at my feet.</p><p>“What?” I asked her.</p><p>“What do you want to drink?”</p><p>“Oh.  Um, Buzz Cola.”</p><p>Smoothly she whipped out a glass and pulled out one of those sink water sprayers, but this one had a whole mess of buttons on it.  She hit one and instead of water it was cola.  I accepted the glass and took a sip.</p><p>“Relax.” the woman told me.</p><p>“Huh?”  I looked at her.</p><p>“You need to chill, null sheen, or whatever you kids’re saying this year.” she told me.  “You look so nervous you’re tweaking out my customers.”</p><p>That was when I noticed my right hand shaking.  I had to use my other hand to force it down, to stop the trembling.</p><p>“Something wrong?” she asked me, sounding a bit more concerned this time.</p><p>“Guess I’m a bit nervous.” I confessed, not looking at anything in particular.</p><p>“Ah, you must be here for the job.  First timer.”  Now that got my attention, and I looked at her.  She bobbed her head towards my left and said, “Down the stairs and the third door on your right.” she told me.</p><p>“Uh, thanks.” I managed to tell her.</p><p>She gave me a bit of a smile, which actually made me nervous, and added, “You can take the drink with you.”</p><p>I left her at the bar, making sure to grab my helmet before walking the way she had indicated.  I had to get past a few booths (one had a real creepy looking guy sitting alone in it) before I found the stairs going down like she had said.  I had no idea what to expect as I went down, the air becoming cooler and smelling a little more moist than when I had first walked in.  Seemed almost like what you’d expect for a basement.  There were fluorescent light tubes recessed into the ceiling down here, which actually added to the creep factor of the place.  Straight ahead of me, just as the hallway turned to the right, was a bathroom.  Guess that was the first door on the left.  I skipped the next door and stopped when I reached the third just as the hallway turned off to the right again.  It wasn’t locked, but I didn’t just walk in.  Hey, I don’t like intruding, especially if I got the wrong door.</p><p>Inside was way, way different than I expected.  There was a real fire pit burning in the middle of the room to make it really nice and toasty warm, animal skins spread out around like rugs, several more modern looking seat cushions, and a whole bunch of different Amerindian stuff hanging from the walls.  Hey, I don’t know what they’re called.</p><p>At the far side of the fire pit was a guy in a gray business suit wearing a big wooden mask that looked like a bird’s head, complete with a mess of black feathers draped over his head.  Sitting around him was a motley bunch.</p><p>There was an elf to the man’s left, with neatly styled black hair and dark eyes.  He wore a basic black winter jacket with a North Face logo on it, jeans, and black sneakers.  His face was oval, narrow, with the typical sharp features of elves, and he had a slim build just the same.</p><p>Next to him were two dwarves, though I wasn’t sure about the first one.  He or she wore some kind of hood and mask, a really loose fitting jacket, and I couldn’t tell of she was wearing a skirt or he was wearing some really loose pants, but was otherwise kneeling on the cushion for him/her.  His/Her ensemble was all a kinda brownish green color, like peas or lima beans, and his/her hands were hidden up the jacket’s billowy sleeves.</p><p>The other I could tell was a dwarf, with his squared face, beard and brown hair, blue denim overalls, and an Ace Of Hearts jacket with the Ares Firewatch patch over his heart, and a bit more rotund as he leaned back on his cushion with one leg propped up.  His left hand was chromed, shining in the firelight.</p><p>To the man’s right was an ork, and he was huge.  He had a mop of auburn hair crowing his round head and face (not at all pointed, like my parents claimed was a trait of all orks), and aside from jeans and boots he was wearing a real heavy looking black jacket.</p><p>The guy in the business suit gestured with one hand towards an empty cushion that was next to the troll.  And all I could think was, <em>Oh crap</em>.  I swallowed hard and carefully walked over to sit next to the fire with everyone else.  I was really hoping this was what Felix was talking about.  “Sorry, I’m late.” I told them as I knelt down, being very careful not to spill my drink and putting my helmet in front of me.</p><p>“You’re just on time.” business suit man said, his voice easy to understand despite the mask he wore.  “Thank you, everyone, for coming.  I am Mr. Johnson, and I have a package that must be delivered in strict confidence.  There are those I believe who do not want this to be received.  It must be delivered no later than seven P.M. tonight.  I will pay you each fifteen hundred nuyen for the delivery, and you’ll be paid an additional fifteen hundred upon delivery.  Do we have a deal?”</p><p>I felt my heart jump.  Three thousand nuyen for a simple delivery?  I didn’t even have that much in my account right now.  That was like… twelve hundred an hour.  Who makes money like that?</p><p>“Miss?” I heard someone ask.  I looked to who was talking and saw the elf looking rather intently at me.  “Are you in?”</p><p>“Oh, uh, yeah…  Yes, yes I am.” I stammered.</p><p>“Wonderful!” Mr. Johnson practically cried, “And here I was afraid I’d given her a stroke or something with how much she was going to earn.”  I could feel myself blushing from that.  It’s not my fault I’m not used to getting paid that much.  Last job I had paid only ten an hour, and that was before taxes.</p><p>Mr. Johnson handed the ork two chips, and the elf three.  He passed one of them to me.  I noticed the elf passed two over to the dwarves, and the one in all the green reached out to take a chip.  I saw a hand, dark olive skin with delicate fingers, and I guess it was a she.</p><p>“What’s this?” I asked, holding up my chip.</p><p>“Credstick.” the elf said, “It’s got your share of the pay in it.  And before you ask, no, it wouldn’t be easier to just give us a transfer like you’d do at a Stuffer Shack.”</p><p>As weird as it seemed I decided to pocket the chip and keep my mouth shut.  I guess it wouldn’t matter if I could get the money into my account.</p><p>Mr. Johnson then pulled out a big manila envelope and passed it over to the elf.  It had “CONFIDENTIAL” in big red letters across it, and I’d guess it was sealed with some kind of anti-tamper tape or something.  “This is a hardcopy letter from the Koshari leadership council.  Delivery is to 4923 Billings Street, in the Montbello District.” he said.</p><p>“Anything special we ought to know?  Like who’ll want to interfere?” the elf asked.</p><p>“Oh, nothing special.” Mr. Johnson casually said, flipping his hand around as he added, “A few other criminal organizations, the ZDF, maybe another institution from the federal alphabet soup…”</p><p>“So, the usual.” the elf finished.</p><p>“Exactly.”</p><p>I was starting to get the feeling that these two knew each other already.</p><p>“And you want us there by seven?” the dwarf asked.  “With rush hour we’re not really gonna make that great a time getting’ ‘cross the Zone.”</p><p>“What about by subway?” I asked, “Or the maglevs?”</p><p>“Too many people and too many things that can go wrong.” the elf said.  “But there are other ways.  I know a few coyotes, but it’s not usually easy to get in touch with any of them.”</p><p>“And you’re not worried about border security confiscating the package?” Mr. Johnson asked.</p><p>“With the press of rush hour traffic, hardly.” the elf answered, “They’ll be more interested in pushing traffic through because of the congestion.  But that’s also the problem since it’ll take a lot longer just to get to or through a checkpoint.”</p><p>“Well, at least I’ve got something that’ll help.” Mr. Johnson said.  He reached into his jacket and pulled out two more envelopes, the regular white paper kind that you lick to seal, and handed them to the elf.  This much hardcopy stuff was really weird.  Was he really that paranoid about hackers or technomancers?</p><p>“Stalker’s the first one you’ll want to contact.” Mr. Johnson told us, “He specializes with the Pueblo/CAS border.  Peaches can get you through on the CAS/UCAS side.”</p><p>“Much appreciated, Mr. Johnson.” the elf said, pushing himself up to stand.  When everyone else was doing the same I hopped up to my feet too.  I waited for everyone else to leave the room first.  The ork was massive, about half a meter taller than me and really broad shouldered.  His arms were thick, and I kinda wondered if he had a neck while standing.  The dwarves were shorter than me, no surprise there really, except that the one in all the green was a head taller than the other guy and not as broad as I’d expect any dwarf to be.  I followed the elf out the door.</p><p>My soda was about half gone by the time I got back to the top of the stairs, and I kept thinking about what all I was supposed to do in this job.  Why’d he need five of us when any one could probably do this?  I took one last sip of my soda before putting it on the bar…</p><p>And yelped when I felt a hand grab my ass!</p><p>I know a bit of Aikido, and on pure reflex I grabbed the person’s wrist, yanked, twisted, and lifted with all my might.  I had a man in a rumpled gray suit by the wrist, forced him off the stool he had been sitting on, and down he went to the floor.  I followed him, putting my knee to his kidneys.  This wasn’t about strength or brute force, as the guy was probably a lot stronger than me, but it was leverage and the way the human body’s designed to move and flex and bend.  Right now there really was no way he was going to get up or his arm straight without being able to rotate his shoulder in an impossible way.</p><p>“Now if I had to guess,” I heard the elf say as he walked back to us and knelt down by the man’s head, “sir, I think the little lady didn’t appreciate you copping a feel.  Now what do you have to say?”</p><p>“Frag off, dandelion eater!” the man sputtered.  And oh boy did I smell the booze on his breath.  I pulled a little harder on his arm, and made him grunt for it.  If I put my full weight into it I could pop his shoulder out of the socket.  I’ve been told that hurts a lot.</p><p>“Ooh, I think that’s the wrong answer.” the elf said.  “Now you can either apologize to the little lady, or you can take things up with our complaint department.”  I heard and felt heavy footsteps coming over to us, and when I looked up I saw the ork looking down at the three of us, and he really looked pissed off.</p><p>Gulp!</p><p>The man struggled beneath me, but I held on.  There wasn’t much he could do without getting into some extreme pain.  The elf did grab him by the hair, twisting his head so he could better see the huge ork looming over us.  “Meet our complaint department.” the elf sweetly said and with a smile on his face, “His name is Brick.  I’ll let you imagine how he earned it.”  Even if he hadn’t been talking to me I could imagine a few ways Brick the ork earned his name, and all of them scared me.</p><p>I felt the man go limp under me, but I kept the hold on him just as tight.  I wasn’t going to let my guard down and believe he’d just given up, though I think he might’ve muttered something.</p><p>“What was that?” the elf asked, tipping his head down and putting a hand to his ear.</p><p>“I’m sorry!” the man yelled at the top of his lungs.</p><p>“Glad to hear it.” the elf said, looking at me now.  He smirked and nodded before pushing himself to his feet.  Then he offered me a hand up.  I didn’t take it, and instead kneed the man in the back as I stood up and walked away.</p><p>I guess I was a little shaky as I walked out the door.  Once outside I stepped aside and leaned back to hit the wall, and got a good gust of a cold wind in my face.  My heart was pounding like I’d just done a twenty meter long jump.  The dwarves stood nearby, the taller one’s clothes flapping in the wind.  Brick and the elf came out behind me.</p><p>“What happened?” the male dwarf asked.</p><p>“Patron got a little handsy with the little lady.  She took him down pretty good.” the elf answered.  When I looked at him he said, “Guess she’s still in a bit of shock.”</p><p>Roland grunted.  “Might’ve kept his mitts off if she weren’t wearing somethin’ skin tight.”</p><p>“I just…  I just…” I stammered.  I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to say.  Instead I looked at my hands.  Where’d my soda go?  Where was my helmet!?</p><p>“You dropped your drink.  The glass shattered on the floor.” the elf told me.  Guess he figured out what I was thinking.  “Don’t worry about it.”  Then I noticed he had my helmet in his hands.  And just how tall he was as I was eye level with his chest.</p><p>I snatched my helmet back and held it close, closing my eyes as I tried to focus on my breathing.</p><p>“She’s gonna be no good if she freaks out like this to a little groping.” the dwarf gruffly said.</p><p>“No need to be rude.” I snipped back, now glaring at him.  I was half tempted to add “halfer” to that line, but bit my tongue.</p><p>“Why don’t you go get our ride ready, Roland.” the elf suggested.  Both dwarves and Brick walked off to the parking lot, the one dwarf muttering along the way.</p><p>“Name’s Lucius.” the elf said, holding out a hand.</p><p>“Shay.” I warily say, accepting his hand and giving it a shake.</p><p>“Good hands in there.” Lucius told me.  “Glad to see you didn’t just pull your piece and shoot him instead.”</p><p>My hand immediately went to my pistol.  I had completely forgotten it was even there.</p><p>“Should I take it you have your own motorcycle?” Lucius asked.</p><p>I looked back at Lucius, narrowing my eyes.  “I do.”</p><p>“Hey, no need to get defensive.” Lucius told me, holding up his hands.  “Just making sure you didn’t have a boyfriend here waiting to give you a ride.  Might’ve gotten a little uncomfortable in Roland’s van, though.  C’mon.”  And with that he turned from me and started walking to the parking lot.  I followed him, putting my helmet back on and securing it.</p><p>“Brick, can you get my bike out of the back, please?” I heard Lucius ask as.  When I looked over to him I saw that they had gathered at a big van.  It was basic white and without any logos.  Brick opened the back doors and pulled out a big motorcycle, handling it as easily as I could a case of Buzz Cola.  It was about as big as my bike, but way nicer looking than mine, mostly dark green in color with a silver “H” like logo on the front.  A matching helmet was secured to the seat.</p><p>“You sure that’s gonna be a good idea?” Roland asked.</p><p>“Only if you think we can get the new girl and her cycle in it with mine and everyone else.” Lucius countered.  I think Roland just growled.</p><p>“And could you please make the calls to the coyotes.” Lucius added, handing the dwarf the envelopes.  “Stalker should be the one to get us into the CAS sector.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah.” Roland grumbled, taking the envelopes and walking off.</p><p>“Risa,” Lucius said to the other dwarf, who I noticed was a bit taller than Roland, “you just sit tight with Brick in the van.”</p><p>“Hey girl!” Roland yelled from inside the van, “Can ya set yer ‘link to Private at least?”</p><p>“Why?” I yelled back.</p><p>“He’ll set us up a group chat.” Lucius answered.  “That way we can all talk to each other while you and I are riding escort.”</p><p>That made sense, and Felix did say this wasn’t supposed to be a competition too.  A few mental clicks and I had my ‘link set to Private.  After a few seconds I got an invite to a TalkTime group.  “Just how private is this?” I asked.</p><p>“I’m hosting it locally, and running an encryption program to boot.” Roland answered.</p><p>“Very private, very secure.” Lucius added.</p><p>Mentally I clicked the [Accept] icon as I walked over to my battered Rapier.  A new ARO appeared with four other images inside representing everyone else.  I shoved it aside so it wasn’t right in the way of everything else.</p><p>“<em>Everyone set?</em>” I heard Roland ask in the chat.  Strange that his name showed as Doug Hutchinson.</p><p>“<em>I’m here.</em>” Lucius responded, though the name that showed up next to his little icon said his name was William Wood.</p><p>“<em>Yeah.</em>” grunted a really deep voice.  I guess that was Brick.  His voice sounded a little off.  His name came up as Charles Rowe.</p><p>“<em>Yes.</em>” someone meekly said.  It sounded like a little girl.  Risa?  Anyway the chat said her name was Monica Justice.  Her profile I took a deeper look at, which said she was human and eighteen.  My age but a lot tinier.  Huh.</p><p>“<em>Uh, yeah.</em>” I mentally said into the chat as I closed out the ARO of Risa’s profile.  Something like this is a little different than regular talk, like into an open mic or something.  It’s neat as you only have to think what you want to say instead of actually saying it.  Discrete that no one will hear you talking, no breathing or wind to pound a mic, and you can still hear it despite all the noise around you.</p><p>“<em>Alright, looks like we’re all set.</em>” Roland announced.</p><p>“<em>I got a question.</em>” I told them.</p><p>“<em>What is it?</em>” Lucius asked back.</p><p>“<em>I thought I got your names, but they’re different here.</em>” I said.</p><p>“<em>Well, Little Lady,</em>” Lucius said, “<em>you weren’t too honest yourself when you told me your name.</em>”</p><p>“<em>I don’t like being called Sonya.</em>” I growled, “<em>So I came up with ‘Shay’ from my initials.  What’s your excuse?</em>”</p><p>“<em>I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m a registered criminal and would rather not have the police and big brother breathing down my neck at every little thing I do.</em>” Lucius told me, “<em>So I’m using a fake identity instead.</em>”</p><p>Oh boy, that’s a really big offense to the police.  Oddly that didn’t hit me as hard as I thought it should.  Maybe because I was half expecting everyone else there to be a criminal of some kind already?</p><p>“<em>Anyway, I got a message back from Stalker.</em>” Roland told us.  “<em>We’re gonna meet him at Sloan Lake.</em>”</p><p>I could hear his van start up, so I got on my bike to get it going.  It took a few pumps to get my bike started.  Like I said, it’s old.  At least once it gets running it’s good to go.  When Roland got his van going I fell in behind to follow.  Lucius took the inside of the lane and rode his motorcycle beside me.</p><p>It took us about fifteen minutes to get to the park, which was about eighty percent lake.  Roland drove to the north side and over before turning into a roundabout parking area.  Close to the lake shore was a building, though what it was supposed to be I couldn’t really tell, it was so rundown.  As cold as it was now I really wasn’t surprised to see we were the only people there.</p><p>And this Stalker person.  He was already waving us over to him by the time I noticed him, and as we got closer to him I got a really good look at him.  Human, with long black hair he kept combed back despite that he was going bald, a heavy black duster, sunglasses, and a sword handle sticking up over one shoulder.  He was clean shaven except for a mustache.  He was also a big guy, almost as tall as Lucius.  When Roland stopped he walked around to the driver’s side door.  Me and Lucius rode our bikes up just to that side of the van.</p><p>“Alright, kids,” Stalker said, his voice deep and really gruff, “we’re here.  What do you want?”</p><p>“Looking to get across the border.” Roland said, handing the other man an envelope.</p><p>Stalker took it rather sharply, tore it open and pulled the letter out to read.  He looked rather unhappy before, but after reading whatever was in that letter he seemed to get rather pissed.  Finally he said, “Alright.  Come ‘round the other side here.”</p><p>On the other side of the building was a big garage door, and Stalker simply grabbed a handle and lifted it open.  It rattled something fierce.  Inside I could see the place was a sty, like no one had bothered to clean up for years.  On the weird side was that there was enough cleared space for Roland to drive his van into, and not just in but down as well.</p><p>“<em>We’re going down there?</em>” I asked into the chat.</p><p>“<em>That’s what the coyote said.</em>” Roland answered.  I didn’t have to ask if he was sure as he pulled his van inside.  He went in deep enough for Lucius and me to get our bikes inside too before Stalker closed the door from the inside.  After that he walked past us (talk about a cold shoulder) and climbed into the van on the passenger side.</p><p>It was almost a straight shot down, with a few turns along the way to get me all twisted about.  Well, as long as Stalker really knew where we were going I guess I could make due.  I was also really glad to be out of the wind, though the dank and musty smell of the tunnel wasn’t much better..  Worse as we completely lost access to the outside matrix.  The only lighting we had were from our headlights as we drove at a rather sedate pace.  None of this was dirt and rock, either.  It was all concrete, and I thought it was all smooth until I spotted some blocky snake with wings carved into the wall at an intersection.</p><p>“<em>Stalker wants us kids to know that the Big A built these tunnels.</em>” Roland told us.</p><p>“<em>So we’re past the border now?</em>” I asked.</p><p>There was a pause before Roland replied, “<em>Maybe, maybe not.  Stalker said he’s seen a lot of these under the PCC side as well as the old Aztlan sector.</em>”</p><p>Now that was creepy.  I was nine during the Year Of The Comet, when Ghostwalker clawed his way out of Dunkelzahn’s Rift.  I remember watching the trids as he attacked the big Aztechnology pyramid in Denver, of being afraid he’d come to Seattle next to do the same Downtown.</p><p>I had no real idea how long we’d been underground, and from the stale smell of the air I was really considering dealing with the cold wind just to get a breath of fresh air, when Roland suddenly hit the brakes on his van.  At least Lucius and I were far enough behind to avoid ramming him, but when I saw Stalker jump out while drawing his sword (it was a fucking katana!) I grabbed for my pistol.  A few paces away from the van he took up that samurai pose, you know, both hands on the sword and holding it up high, looking around for… something.  After a while he relaxed and put the katana away before walking back to Roland’s van.  It took me a few tries to put my pistol back.</p><p>It felt like forever before we were back on the surface again, the cold wind feeling even colder and windier as we came out from an apartment building’s underground garage next to Chessman Park and my ‘link regained its connection to the matrix.  At Roland’s suggestion we skipped trying for a main highway to stick to the more back streets while heading east.</p><p>“Glad to see you’re not the trigger happy type, too.” Lucius said.</p><p>“What’re you talkin’ ‘bout?” Roland asked.</p><p>“Meant the little lady.” Lucius clarified.  “When Stalker jumped out she drew but managed to not shoot any shadows.”</p><p>“Yeah, but I was expecting that Stalker to start swingin’ at ‘em.” countered Roland.  “Maybe the air’s too thin.”</p><p>“<em>Hey!</em>” grunted Brick.</p><p>“Bah, Brick, you’re acclimated.”</p><p>Yeah, getting used to the thin air in the Mile High City had taken some doing, and I still felt out of breath after a workout sometimes.  Fifteen hundred meters of elevation will do that to a person.  Now if only I knew where the fuck they came up with “Mile High”…</p><p>“<em>Shit!</em>” cussed Roland, his van coming to an abrupt stop.</p><p>“<em>What is it?</em>” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Gridlock.”</p><p>“I think we ought to take the next left to get on Colfax.” Lucius suggested.  Roland’s only reply was a grunt.</p><p>At least we weren’t too far, I think.  The street sign just ahead of us said we were almost at the intersection of Krameria and 14th, so Colfax should be just a block to the left.  But being stuck in a traffic jam and the middle of three lanes of a one way street it looked like we weren’t going anywhere anytime soon.</p><p>“This ain’t good for time.” muttered Brick.</p><p>“<em>Not much we can do ‘bout that.</em>” Roland said, sounding more frustrated than the ork.</p><p>“Shit, I think we got trouble.” Lucius announced.</p><p>“Wouldn’t be a run without it.” Roland flatly commented.</p><p>I looked at Lucius, and noticed he was looking behind us.  I looked over my shoulder and saw four Asian guys in black suits walking around the car behind us, two on either side.  They didn't look too happy.  Behind the car that was behind us was a black limo.  One of them looked like he was trying to hurry without looking like he was hurrying.  His own coat was open, and I caught the glint of silver just by his pits.  Unlike the other three his black hair was longer and parted at one side, his face had a really sour expression on it, and he was almost as tall as I was.</p><p>“Check right, Little Lady<em>.</em>” I heard Lucius say aloud.  When I did I saw four more Asian people coming towards us; two human, male and female, a female ork, and a large troll male.  The human male was sporting a long goatee, and the troll had a single black horn jutting up from the right side of his head.  The troll wore a cream colored long jacket with Japanese or Chinese writing on it, and his single horn was smooth and slightly curved, and looked a lot shinier than I’d’ve expected any horn to look.  They too were heading towards us.</p><p>But there was something odd about the whole lot of them.  The four men walking up straight behind us in the street kept eying the other four too, and those four kept eying the men in the street.  What the fuck?</p><p>“Don’t do anything, Little Lady.” Lucius said aloud, “Don’t say anything at all and follow my lead.”</p><p>“<em>What is it?</em>” asked Roland.</p><p>“<em>We got four Yakuza and four Triad on your back door.</em>” Lucius answered, “<em>Brick, be ready by the back door.  Wait for my signal.</em>”  Aloud for Asian people he asked, “Can I help you?”</p><p>The troll and the leading man of the other group kinda bumped as they got close.  They glared at each other but didn’t really do anything more.  Then the little guy said, “Yes.”  He had a bit of an accent.  “We know you are transporting a package.”</p><p>“From the Koshari to the Mafia.” the troll added.</p><p>Okay, I had no idea who the Koshari were.  Maybe if I’d grown up in Denver I would, but really that name was pretty meaningless to me.  Mafia, on the other hand, well…</p><p>The wind shifted for moment and blew a really cold gust right down the street on us, and my nearly skin tight pants offered no protection at all (at least I didn’t have any panty lines).  Now if they were talking about the letter Mr. Johnson gave us…  Damn.  How’d they find out so fast?</p><p>“And what’s it to us?” Lucius asked, lifting the blackened visor of his helmet and turning to get a better look at them.</p><p>“We want it.” the man said.  “We are willing to compensate you for your trouble as well.”  Was it me or was he even more pissed now after having said that?</p><p>“How much’re you talking about?”</p><p>“Four thousand nuyen.” the man answered, his words sounding a little… clipped?</p><p>And boy was I glad I left my helmet’s visor down.  I don’t think I’ve got a good poker face, and I felt my eyes bulge out at the price.</p><p>“And are you two somehow going to share?” Lucius asked.  “I really find that hard to believe.”</p><p>The troll’s eyes narrowed.  I was starting to think they weren’t.  My stomach started to roll around nervously.</p><p>Quietly Lucius said, “They’re after the package.  Get ready to buzz.”</p><p>“We will find an… accommodation.” the man said.  “It is unimportant to you.”  Why did I get the feeling he should’ve just told us to fuck off?</p><p>“Will we?” the troll asked, his voice really deep and not having any kind of odd accent.</p><p>“Well, there is also the problem of our collective conscious.” Lucius told them.</p><p>“Thirty-five hundred if you hand it over to me.” announced the troll.</p><p>“Four thousand!” decried the man.</p><p>“Five!” boomed the troll.</p><p>Lucius leaned over the back of his motorcycle.</p><p>The two turned to glare at each other, but neither said anything.</p><p>“<em>Ready to buzz in three, two…</em>” Lucius said into our chat, turning away from the Asians behind us.  I turned to look at him…</p><p>And nearly got blown off my bike when something behind us exploded!  There was a loud ringing in my left ear and a big blindingly multicolored blur to my left.  My right hand was still on the bike’s handgrip so I managed to keep from falling off.</p><p>“<em>Forget them!</em>” came Lucius’s voice over the chat, “<em>Go!  Go!  Go!</em>”  From the multicolored blur I saw Lucius’s green motorcycle dart off.</p><p>I think it took me a few seconds to get my chips in order.  Naturally my bike, which I had switched off to save gas, had issues starting.  My senses were just starting to clear when it finally turned over, and I barely recalled an Asian guy lunging after me.  I hit the accelerator so hard I popped a wheelie, and I felt his hand almost grab hold of my jacket as I took off.  The front end came down hard, practically compacting the shocks on the front fork all the way down as I cut in front of someone.  I’d gone through the intersection before I remembered that Lucius had said we should try for Colfax, but I managed to weave around the traffic to make the next left so I could get over onto the highway.  I didn’t even consider relaxing until I’d merged with traffic on Colfax and was heading east with the flow.  By now my senses had cleared up, that multicolored Rainbow Dash of a blur now completely gone.</p><p>And so were the others!</p><p>“Fuck!” I cussed as I tried to think about how I’d be able to meet up with them.  Granted I had a chip with fifteen hundred nuyen on it, and I could’ve just buzzed for home and called it quits, but I really wanted to finish this job.  I really don’t like leaving something unfinished.</p><p>Plus there was another fifteen hundred nuyen in it for me if I could find the others.</p><p>Hey, don’t judge.  I needed the money.</p><p>“<em>Hey, Little Lady.  Did you lose something?</em>” I heard Lucius ask.  “<em>Check your rear view.</em>”</p><p>My bike had no review camera like pretty much all modern vehicles, so I had to check the physical mirrors by my handgrips.  It looked like Roland’s van was way behind me now.  Huh.  Go me?</p><p>It didn’t seem to take much for me to slow down a bit, but the first guy right behind me had to be a jerk about it and honk his horn at me before swerving into the inside lane to pass me.  I flipped him off as he went past.  Asshole.  I didn’t slow down <em>that</em> much.</p><p>The next car right behind him was a lot more considerate.  He just signaled and moved over.  Roland was right behind him, and when his van passed me I picked up the speed again to keep pace with Lucius.</p><p>“<em>Glad you made it.</em>” Lucius said.  “<em>Was afraid someone managed to get you.</em>”</p><p>“<em>Someone almost did.</em>” I confessed.</p><p>“<em>Need to be quicker on the draw.</em>” Roland said, “<em>Don’t kill the engine and leave it in gear.  Just pop the clutch and you’re off.</em>”</p><p>“<em>I thought I’d save a little gas.</em>” I admitted, now feeling really sheepish.</p><p>“<em>Hey, cut the kid some slack.</em>” Lucius said.</p><p>“<em>She made it.  That counts.</em>” Brick added.</p><p>“<em>Thanks guys.</em>” I said, feeling a little better.</p><p>A little while later we were off Colfax and heading south on Havana.  We were met by our next coyote, Peaches.  She was an ork, maybe about as old as Stalker.  She had flaming orange hair that was tied back into a mess of curls and wore an olive green parka that reached practically to her boots.  She was standing on the southwest corner of the intersection, in front of a really run down looking parking garage.  Just like with Stalker she hopped into Roland’s van for a ride and in we went.</p><p>And down we went, too.  Didn’t really surprise me this time, nor did our loss of signal again.  Not like we were gonna fly over the border somehow.</p><p>When we got to the bottom of the garage Peaches hopped out and walked over to a chain link fence and opened up a gate.  She waved us on through, and after Lucius and I were in closed it behind us.  Once she was back in Roland’s van we were off again.</p><p>And down we went again.  Three more floors, I think.  I might’ve lost count.  This time the tunnels looked different.  Maybe older but something was different.  More uniform?  Durable?  It certainly wasn’t the lack of Aztec artwork all over the place, nor the dank and musty smell (it was just the same as the last time), or that the only light there was came from our headlights.  I don’t know, I just couldn’t place it.  Oh, sure, there was occasionally some graffiti, but that wasn’t quite the same thing.</p><p>One thing that finally hit me was the fact that these tunnels were more than big enough to fit a van like Roland’s.</p><p>Another thing that struck me as odd was when I realized I was also hearing music down here.  It couldn’t’ve been my ‘link either, not without…  I had a signal?  Where’d it come from?  Anyway, we’d gotten to a place where the tunnel had widened out considerably, and I saw a few other vehicles that were parked along the wall to our right just as if they were on the street.  There was even a door with light leaking out at the edges, and I figured it was the source of the music too.</p><p>“<em>…I’m not big on social graces, Think I’ll slip on down to the oh-asis, Oh, I’ve got friends… in low-oh places…</em>”</p><p>“<em>What is that?</em>” I asked into the chat.</p><p>After a few seconds Roland said, “Peaches says that’s Five By Five, a smuggler hangout.  Good place to get a quick drink and hire transportation.”</p><p>“<em>Too bad we can’t stop in now.</em>” commented Lucius.  He didn’t press it, and we moved on.  Whatever style of music that was it wasn’t to my taste.  They must’ve had a matrix repeater or something in there too, because it wasn’t long before I lost signal again.</p><p>A while later we were back on the surface, my ‘link reconnected to the matrix again, coming out of another parking garage on the southeast corner of tenth and eleventh and Airport Boulevard (I don’t quite know how that worked out; it was a four-way intersection).  Also the wind had gotten colder, again.  When I looked up at the sky I saw gray clouds coming in from the north.  I wished my dorm had better sound proofing in the walls, because I really wanted to take a nice hot shower after all of this and I really hated the thought of someone being able to listen to me in the shower.</p><p>Seriously, I can hear the guy in the room next to mine when he’s jerking off to porn.  Disgusting.</p><p>Anyway, we left Peaches behind and started off north.  Now I wish I remembered the address we were going to so I knew how much farther it was.  My legs were starting to go numb from the cold, and my bike’s engine wasn’t enough to keep warm by.</p><p>I was daydreaming of a nice hot shower, again, when Lucius said into the chat, “<em>We’ve got company coming up behind us.</em>”</p><p>Rather than waste time opening up that ARO again I turned my head and glanced back.  There were about half a dozen bikes racing up behind us.  I didn’t get any friendly vibes from them.</p><p>“<em>Who is it?</em>” asked Roland.</p><p>There was a pause as Lucius looked over his shoulder, and back. “<em>Fronts.  Looks like there’s six or seven of them.</em>”</p><p>“What do they want?” I asked.</p><p>“<em>Who knows?</em>” Roland asked back.</p><p>“<em>I doubt I’ll be able to outrun ‘em in this.</em>” Roland told us, his voice sounding a little grim.</p><p>“Then pull over.” Lucius said, “Brick, get out and be ready to clobber.  Risa, do… whatever.”</p><p><em>Whatever?</em> I thought to myself.  Well, I had figured Brick to be a fighter of some kind.  A lot of orks had that kind of temperament, plus they were all bigger and stronger than humans.  It just seemed to come natural to them.</p><p>But then I had no idea at all about little Risa.  Fuck, I’d almost forgotten about her.</p><p>Roland pulled over to the side of the street and Brick hopped out of the back to land between me and Lucius.</p><p>“Now would be a good time to draw.” Lucius said, setting the kickstand to his bike as he got off.  I did draw my pistol, but I also stayed on my bike.</p><p>I could see them as I looked back the way we came.  Two of them came racing up at us faster than the rest.  I didn’t end up shooting or doing anything, having closed my eyes and screamed as they went roaring by on their motorcycles.  I also heard the crunch of a motorcycle toppling over, and when I opened my eyes I saw that Brick had rushed up to them.  One of the Fronts had been knocked off his bike, which had jumped the curb before crashing into someone’s house!</p><p>I guess what happened next was Risa’s doing.  I sure as hell couldn’t have done it.</p><p>There was an explosion of fire in the middle of the street, and bursting from a fetal position was a humanoid… thing of fire.  A fire elemental as big as a grown human, or an ork.  Tires squealed as the other Fronts tried to stop.  The spirit itself thrust out a… hand, or something, and hit a bike full on with fire.  The ganger jumped off, letting the burning bike go careening off down the street without him.</p><p>And just like that the Fronts had it.  The one that Brick had hit turned tail and ran, leaving his bike behind.  So did the other that jumped off his.  Two of their buddies barely hung around long enough to give them a ride while the others buzzed like mad to get away.</p><p>Beside us the elemental stood there, crackling like a bonfire.</p><p>Lucius whistled.  “That’s a pretty good ‘whatever’ there, Risa.” he said approvingly.</p><p>“We really oughta get our hoops in gear!” Roland yelled out to us through the back doors of his van.</p><p>Brick needed no prodding, already passing us to get back into the van, closing the doors behind him.  The elemental disappeared like it was a candle having been blown out.</p><p>“Hey, you okay?” I heard Lucius ask.  He was right next to me when he did, which freaked me out.  Yes, I jumped.</p><p>“Whoa, hey.  It’s okay.” he told me.  He put a hand on mine, gently pushing my hands down.  “You can put it away, too.”</p><p>Oh, right, gun.  I was careful about putting it back in the holster.</p><p>“<em>Are you coming or not?</em>” Roland asked us over the chat.</p><p>“<em>We’ll catch up.</em>” Lucius replied.  To me he said, “First time?”</p><p>I took a deep breath and nodded.  I only had my gun for like two months.  Last time I shot anything was a demo model the gun store owner had, and that was a few rounds down a range at a paper target.</p><p>“Some places are a lot more dangerous than the university campus.” Lucius said.  “You’ll need to shoot that sometime if you expect to come out alive.  Next time we might not be so lucky.  Next time they might have a mage of their own.”</p><p>“Is that why they ran?” I asked.</p><p>Lucius nodded.  “Spirits can be pretty dangerous things, unless you’ve got something to deal with them.  Fire spirits especially.  Especially what Risa’s did to that motorcycle.  They knew to cut and run.”</p><p>“But if one of them was also a magician…”</p><p>“Then he or she could’ve banished that spirit, or worked any number of a dozen spells to deal with it.”</p><p>I knew that magic was rare.  The official numbers put it to about one in ten thousand being awakened, or something like that.  Maybe I never learned to do anything with spirits, and I sorta knew how to work my spells, but my spirit couldn’t leave my body behind so I could go zipping about in the astral.  Shit, I could barely understand what I could see in the astral.</p><p>“C’mon,” Lucius said, bobbing his head towards the way Roland and the others had went, “no harm no foul.  Think of it as a learning experience.”</p><p>“Thanks.” I softly said, feeling myself smile just a little behind my helmet.  I waited for him to get back onto his motorcycle before we took off after the van.</p><p>It didn’t take us long to catch back up.  I wasn’t sure why, but Roland had stopped next to an open air bistro.  Lucius and I pulled up beside them.</p><p>“What happened?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“I think someone hacked my van.” Roland replied.</p><p>Or maybe all of us.  An ARO popped up right in the middle of everything, a pic that looked like was taken from a dating sight.  Human, good looking (I guess), with neatly styled brown hair, blue eyes, and a really nice looking suit that probably cost more money than I’ve ever had at one time.  There was an added text to it, saying, “Come on over for a quick drink.  We need to talk.”</p><p>“What the fuck?” I said, trying to mentally click the ARO away.  Piece of shit kept popping back up just as quick, and I couldn’t move it aside either.  When I tried it looked like it was about to move, and would suddenly pop back right where it was.</p><p>“Pain in the ass this one is.” commented Lucius.  Guess he’d gotten it too.  I heard Roland growl.  He wasn’t happy either.</p><p>“Alright, fine!” Lucius relented.</p><p>The ARO finally went away.</p><p>“Bring your bike up with mine,” Lucius said, “we’ll go talk to this guy.  Roland, you and the others stay in the van.”</p><p>“What do I do?” I asked as we parked our motorcycles just in front of the van.</p><p>“I’ll talk to this guy.  You’re backup.” he told me, taking off his helmet.</p><p>“Okay, but I think you ought to know that it’s loaded with gel rounds.” I told him as I got off my bike.</p><p>He stopped and looked at me as I took my helmet off too.  “Gel rounds?  Not real bullets?” he asked.</p><p>I nodded.</p><p>Lucius sighed.  “Guess it can’t be helped.  Just don’t tell anyone that.”</p><p>Again I nodded.</p><p>I followed Lucius as he walked towards the bistro.  There were a whole bunch of empty tables, and considering the cold evening I couldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to be outside, especially when that ice cold wind could pick up again.  Still, there was one guy, and he looked like the dating pic he sent.  He was lounging at a table, wearing a heavier jacket to fend off the cold, and on the table were half a dozen glasses (only one had anything in it) and several bottles of wine (one of which was opened).  He held up his half full glass.</p><p>We walked over to him, me just behind Lucius.  The elf pulled out a chair to sit with the guy, but I really didn’t feel like sitting.  I stood just behind Lucius, my right hand close to my pistol.</p><p>“Right, we’re here, so let’s talk.” Lucius said, taking the opened bottle and pouring himself a glass about half way full.  He gave it a swirl, a sniff, and a tentative taste.</p><p>Pretty Boy looked up at me, sighed, and turned his attention to Lucius.  “I’m here representing the Casquilho family,” he said, his voice sounding like he was a really smooth talker, “and we know that you’re transporting something to the Chavez family.”  He took a sip of wine.</p><p>Lucius also took a sip before saying, “That’s not really your business.”</p><p>“It’s not all I’m in, no.”</p><p>“So you’ll want us to hand it over, too?”</p><p>Pretty Boy chuckled.  “Hardly.  I’m just a bit curious as to what it is.”</p><p>“And I wouldn’t tell you that, even if I did know anyway.”</p><p>“And that’s just fine.  I just want to run an electronic scanner over it.  Shouldn’t leave any evidence of tampering or anything.”  He took a sip of wine before adding, “I’ll even pay you.  Nothing like what I think you’re being paid to deliver, mind you, but at least a little something.  Fifty nuyen for each of you.”</p><p>A few hours ago I would’ve probably jumped on that offer.  Considering we had another fifteen hundred nuyen waiting for us at the end of this delivery, it kinda put that fifty into perspective.</p><p>“We’ll consider it,” Lucius said, “after we’ve had a guy take a look at that gizmo of yours.”</p><p>“Sure, sure.”</p><p>Silently over the chat Lucius said, “<em>Roland, come on over with the package.  Our host wants to run a scanner over it.  Will pay us a little for the hassle.</em>”</p><p>“<em>Sure it’s a good idea?</em>”</p><p>“<em>Not entirely, but he’ll let you examine the scanner first.  If you think it’ll fuck up the package, deal’s off.</em>”</p><p>“<em>Alright then.</em>”</p><p>I didn’t turn when I heard the van door open and close.  I kept my eyes on the pretty boy.  He flashed me a pearl smile while I glared at him.  When he didn’t react I remembered that my visor was down so he couldn’t see my eyes.</p><p>But something must have tipped him off or something, because he did glance at me.  “Your friend doesn’t say much, does she?”</p><p>“Bit of a rough start.” Lucius said.</p><p>“Got fired this morning because I wouldn’t let my boss fuck my ass.” I tartly told Pretty Boy.  “How’s your day?”</p><p>He gave me a once over before turning his attention away.  Setting his glass down he said, “A bit better after seeing what I can of your loveliness.”  He pulled out a little device from a jacket pocket, folding out two thick metal antenna that ended in a weird half circle curve.  He then handed it to Roland.</p><p>I did my best to not look at him, though I could see him turning the then over and over in his hands before handing it back to Pretty Boy.  “Seems safe ‘nough to me.” he announced.</p><p>“Guess we have a deal.” Lucius said.</p><p>Someone passed the envelope to Lucius, who held it while Pretty Boy waved his toy over both sides of it.  It didn’t take long and he put it back in his pocket when he was done.  Then his gaze shifted and I could tell he was looking at AROs only he could see.  Then a prompt appeared in my vision, asking if I’d approve a transfer of fifty nuyen from Dean Costello.  I went ahead and mentally clicked [Yes].</p><p>Pretty Boy, Dean, then stood (turned out he was almost a head taller than me), picking up his glass and the opened bottle.  “Nice meeting you all.” he said, “Take a bottle or three of wine with you, if you like.”  He gestured with the hand holding the glass, and walked towards the bistro’s door.</p><p>Lucius sighed.  “Right, let’s get going.”</p><p>Thankfully the wind stayed down for the rest of the trip.  Traffic was lightening up as rush hour was winding down.  Then there was the change in neighborhood as we got close to our destination.  It was well after six in the evening and the sun was just about hidden behind the Rockies and it was getting even colder now.  The sky was clear and a nearly full moon was already climbing into the sky in the other direction.  I was told this meant it was going to be a really, really cold night.</p><p>I haven’t a clue what the Montbello district was like a century ago, but now it was the place where the filthy rich people lived.  Large properties, mansions, clean smelling air, and more than just one or two Knight Errant police cars milling about.  I felt like a piece of trash in my cheap clothes riding my battered Rapier.  Thank you very much, upper crust.  Fuckers.</p><p>I guess it was the Chavez property where we turned off the street and onto a paved driveway.  The gate and fence looked like black iron, and the driveway beyond was as wide as a regular street.  The lawn was already a healthy green and there were a lot of pine trees along the drive with snow still piled up around their trunks.  It was the kind of place that required you to have millions just to keep.  Now that the sun was going down behind the mountains all the trees all were casting purple shadows that really gave the place a creepy feeling.</p><p>Lucius pulled up into the lead to get to the gate.  There was an old fashioned call box just to the right of the gate, and Lucius drove right up to it and hit the button.  I could just barely hear him talking, but no other voices.  Then the gate gave an electric buzz and started opening on its own.  Lucius waved for me to follow up with him, and we took the lead up the driveway.  After a while I noticed that a lot of those pines were wired with cameras.  Guess they’re really, really paranoid.</p><p>Then there was the mansion itself.  There were broad stairs leading up to a set of double doors, covered over by an equally broad patio from the second floor.  Just to the left was a parkway for guests before the driveway continued on to a separate garage farther on.  The walls were white, stucco I think, and the roof was that curved red tile you’d see in homes in Los Angeles.  By the front doors were four Hispanic men in really bad fitting suits.  One of them stepped down to greet us.</p><p>The guy waited until we were parked and everyone had unloaded from the van.  “My name is Michael.” the guy said, “Sottocapo Chavez is expecting you, but he’s currently involved in a meeting downstairs in the shooting range.  He’d appreciate it if you’d join him there.”</p><p>“Lead the way.” Lucius told him, setting his helmet on the seat of his motorcycle.  I felt like leaving mine on.</p><p>Michael alone led the way inside.  The… foyer?  Whatever, it was a really big room just inside the front doors, and Michael led us almost all the way back to a big staircase that went up to the second floor.  Just before that, on our right, were two doors and he took us through the one on the left.  This led into a sitting room that had a nice view of the back yard and a few shelves loaded with real books.  From what I saw on the table and chairs in the middle of the room I’d say they had real gold in them.  At one end of the sitting room was another door that led to more stairs going down.  And down we went.</p><p>The stairwell had another door at the bottom, and through that we walked into a utility room.  Couple of water heaters and those really ugly but huge industrial sinks were in the far corner.  Through another door we were led down a long hallway.  A few more doors and a few left turns and we had another long hallway.  I was starting to think that whoever designed this place played too many of those old video games that made a maze out of what should’ve been a simple home or something, especially after another door before we’d gotten to the shooting range.</p><p>“Before we go in,” Michael said, “speak only when you are spoken to.  Wait patiently for the Sottocapo to address you.”  Then he opened a soundproofed door to let us in.</p><p>There were two people inside, a tiny, skinny old man leaning on a cane that probably wasn’t any taller than Risa, and a cringing elf.  The old man looked really frail, like a good breeze would knock him down.  His hair was graying to the point of being white, and he wore dark gray slacks, a white button down shirt, and suspenders.  From the wrinkles I’d have guessed he was close to a hundred.  The elf was wearing black slacks and a white undershirt that was ripped and stained with sweat.  I guess the old man was Chavez.</p><p>Chavez handed the elf one of those paper shooting targets.  “Hang this up down there.” he ordered.</p><p>The elf took it, and was shaking as he walked down the range.  As rich as I thought this guy was supposed to be I thought he’d at least be able to afford one of those zippy things that could hold the target and run it down the range for you.  Certainly would’ve been a lot faster than a shambling elf.</p><p>But then Chavez picked up a huge gun from the booth just in front of him.  When I say this thing was a hand cannon, I really mean it was a cannon.  It made my pistol seem like one of those little Derringer holdouts you can hide up your sleeve.  While leaning on the cane with one hand he held his cannon with the other and took a bead on the back of the elf.  I felt like saying something, that the bastard shouldn’t do that, when Lucius held out an arm like he was going to block me from approaching.  I really bit my tongue to keep from saying anything.  But at least Chavez didn’t shoot the poor elf in the back.</p><p>He actually waited for the target to get hung and the elf to move out of the way.  Actually, the elf didn’t even walk back when Chavez fired.  And I thought my gun was loud when I had taken a few practice shots at a range.  That cannon was like standing next to a lightning strike, it thundered that loudly.</p><p>With a click-click Chavez readied it, and fired again.</p><p>And again.</p><p>And again.</p><p>Six times in total, and by the last shot (since Chavez put the monster gun back on the shelf) I thought I was gonna go deaf.  I’m really surprised the little guy didn’t fall over or something, even after that first shot.</p><p>“Now I understand you have something for me.” Chavez said, finally turning to look at us, his cane clicking on the smoothed concrete floor.</p><p>“Yes sir.” Lucius said, though it was Roland that produced the envelope to hand to the old man.  Chavez took it, seemed to give it a good inspection, then without looking at the shelf put it next to that monster cannon of his.  Then he reached into his pocket and produced a handful of chips that he handed to Lucius.</p><p>“Michael will see you out.” Chavez said to us, turning back to the range and the cringing elf that was now slowly walking back to us.</p><p>No one said anything until we were back outside again.  Michael had retraced our steps out, taking us on the same path we’d seen going in.  I had no idea how wobbly my legs must’ve been feeling until I got to my bike, practically falling against it so I could keep standing.</p><p>“You alright?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“If ya gotta puke, make sure to get your helmet off first.” Roland advised.</p><p>“That was…” I started to say.</p><p>“Sottocapo Omar Chavez.” Lucius finished, “The head of the Chavez family here in Denver, and he answers only to the head of the whole family, who’s down in Dallas.”</p><p>I wanted to look at the others, but Risa had already gotten back into the van and Brick was climbing in behind her.</p><p>“You go on ahead, Roland.” Lucius said, “I’ll catch up with you later.”  I heard the van doors close, and after a bit the engine started up.</p><p>“Hey, your cut.” Lucius said, tossing me a chip.  I barely managed to catch it, bobbling it a little before getting a good grip on the little thing.  When I realized it was another credstick it went straight into my pocket.</p><p>“You’re a bit more shook up than I expected.” Lucius said as the van backed away from the mansion.  “Compared to some jobs I’ve been on this one was rather mild.”</p><p>“Mild?” I asked, looking up at him.  Was he bullshitting me?</p><p>“Honest to ghost, yes.”</p><p>I looked back down towards the pavement where the van had parked.  “I never expected anything like this.  Felix told me it’d be like a contract job.”</p><p>“And what did you think shadowrunners did?”</p><p>I looked back at Lucius.  “This?”</p><p>“This?  This was nothing like the trid or games.  Nothing like <em>Into The Shadows</em>, and definitely nothing like <em>Karl Kombatmage</em>.” Lucius told me.  “This was real.  This is what it is.  Tonight was an easy courier job.”</p><p>“But what about getting home?” I asked, “Last border I crossed…”</p><p>“Doesn’t mean shit.” interrupted Lucius.  “Tens of thousands of people go through each checkpoint, one way, every day.  No one’s gonna notice the discrepancy.”  I glanced at him, then looked away again.  It seemed like he was being chip true with me.</p><p>“Look, if you feel this isn’t the life for you, let Felix know.” Lucius told me as he climbed onto his motorcycle, his voice sounding a lot more gentle.  “This kind of life isn’t for everyone, and there’s no shame in it if you walk back into the light after this one.”  And with that he put his helmet back on.</p><p>Feeling a little better, at least not like I was too sick to ride without wobbling all over the place, I got back on my battered purple Rapier.  This time it started right up, and I followed Lucius back out to the main road.  He went right, but I went left instead.</p><p>I took the long way back to the CAS sector, thinking about everything along the way.  It was dark when I made the border crossing, and true to Lucius’s word the guard didn’t really give me a second look before waving me on through (probably because I’d remembered to broadcast my identity before trying to cross).  I made two stops on my way back to the dorm, one at a Stuffer Shack to fill the gas tank on my bike and another at a McHugh’s for a really late dinner.  Back at the dorm no one seemed to notice the late hour when I got there, going about their routines like everything was normal.</p><p>Thankfully the guy next door wasn’t watching any porn as I sat cross-legged on my bed, an electric blanket draped over my shoulders, eating my burg’r.  I had an ARO open to watch a spring training baseball game out of the Kingdom of Hawai’i, an exhibition match between the Seattle Mariners and the Vancouver Cubs.  I guess my heart just wasn’t in the game as without even checking the score I gave the ARO a mental click to close it.  I thought about calling Felix, and even picked up my commlink to thumb through my contacts list to his name.  Instead of calling him I closed the list and put my Airware into its charging cradle, took out my contact lenses (just so I could see the AROs) and micro earphones and put them in their little containers next to the cradle, and finally pulled off the trode band that was hidden in my hair to drop on everything.</p><p>I hit the old light switch, dousing my little place in shadows just before pulling that nice warm blanket over me as I went to bed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The song heard as the team drives by Five By Five is Friends In Low Places by Garth Brooks.  Country-Western was mentioned to be the music heard, and honestly I don't care if Garth Brooks fits that bill properly or not because the song itself is so fitting in this case.  And yes, I'll continue to play up this music angle for here and other places.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Best Served Cold</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Not all shadow work involves stealing data, smuggling, or killing.  Sometimes you get to play detective and find something that's missing or stolen.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Based on the mission written by Stephen McQuillan:</p><p>I groaned in delight as the hot water came crashing down on me.  I think I might’ve pushed my Saturday morning workout a little harder than I should’ve, but it felt so good on my muscles right now.</p><p>“What happened to Eric to get him all pissy?” asked Allison as she stepped up to the shower next to me.  She was an ork, well muscled but not bulky like a body builder but athletic like a sprinter, with fair skin and straight black hair that reached her shoulders and dark eyes.  Overall she was bigger than me in all respects.  She even knew what she was wanting to do in life, aiming for becoming a physical therapist, and she went straight from high school to the University Of Denver with that goal in mind.  We also shared a psychology class, though I think she was way more into it than I was (the class was a core requirement, and just a bit interesting).</p><p>“I think Hanako finally told him off.” I said, stepping fully under the shower head to let the water flow straight down over my body.  “He’s just too pig headed to understand she’s a traditionalist.”  Hanako was very cute Japanese girl.  Pretty much imagine the ideal Japanese look and she seemed to exemplify it; pretty round face, long and silky looking black hair, and slim features.  Eric, on the other hand, seemed to exemplify the worst of a northern European.  He had a tangled mess of reddish curls and a squared face that must’ve been used for punching practice.  Hanako saw him as repugnant, but he somehow thought he was God’s gift to women.</p><p>All I could say was that I wouldn’t fuck the guy.</p><p>“You got any plans for today?” Allison asked me.</p><p>“Probably stop by the job service and talk to Felix.” I told her.  “Still haven’t found something after Randy fired me for not putting out for him.”</p><p>“Think it might’ve had something to do with that pic you sent him?”</p><p>“Well what else should’ve I done?  I sure as hell wasn’t gonna send a trid of me masturbating to him!”  For some reason that reminded me of my dorm neighbor and his porn addiction.  That thought made me shiver.</p><p>“Well, I got the scan that he’s really pissed.” Allison told me, killing the water to her shower.  “Guess he’s doing what he can to try and screw you over every which way he can.”</p><p>I killed the water to my own shower, throwing my hair back so it was out of my face.  “Then maybe I oughta get a pic of Eric to send Randy with an offer of a blow job.” I mused aloud.  At least it made Allison laugh.</p><p>There were a couple of reasons why I preferred showering at the gym near the university instead of one of the showers at my dorm.  One was the obvious lack of soundproofing at my dorm.  Other reasons included not having to do as much laundry and no risk of leering guys trying to get a peek at the goods.  Skin tight clothing’s one thing, but just skin’s something else.</p><p>I’d sat down on the bench by my locker and had barely thumbed the door to open it when my commlink started chiming to let me know about an incoming call.  I was starting to fear that the call would get routed to the message box by the time I dug it out, and then I realized I was naked and in a girl’s locker room just before I hit the [Accept] icon.  I pressed my thumb over the cameras just before answering.</p><p>The trid screen replaced my wallpaper with a cat girl’s portrait.  And I mean a literal cat girl.  Not just the ears but the fur coat and slit eyes too.  Her hair was auburn and almost orange while her fur was a two toned copper orange and yellow, striped like a real cat.</p><p>“Hey, um, is there a Shay over there?” she asked.</p><p>“Yeah, that’s me.” I replied.  I wasn’t quite sure who she was or how she knew of me.</p><p>“Hope you don’t mind, but Felix gave me your commcode.” the cat girl told me, “I catch you at a bad time?”</p><p>“Well, I did just get out of the shower.” I told her.</p><p>“Hey Shay, what’s up?” Allison asked me from the other side of the lockers.</p><p>“Dunno.” I yelled back to her over my shoulder.</p><p>On my ‘link’s screen I could see the cat girl looked a little uncomfortable.  “Well, sorry about that, but I got a Johnson who needs a team out at his ranch in four hours.  Should be just some cleanup work, if you’re interested.”</p><p>I looked away from the cat girl and thought.  “Another contract job?” I asked.</p><p>“Yup.” she replied, sounding a little more cheerful.</p><p>I sighed.  I kinda hoped it wouldn’t be quite the same as last week, but then I also hadn’t a fucking clue what she really meant by “cleanup work.”  I hoped this Johnson wasn’t looking for a maid.  But last week had netted me three thousand nuyen, and at my last job it would’ve taken two months to come close to that much money.  “Alright,” I conceded, “send me the details.”</p><p>“Good luck.” the cat girl said, her image disappearing when she hung up.  Then she sent me a file, a navigational aid to the ranch which was up in the Sioux sector.</p><p>“So, was that a possible job?” Allison asked, stepping around to my side of the lockers.  She was already half dressed, wearing black and green camo patterned tights and nothing else.  I turned away before my eyes went up to her chest and…</p><p>Er, yeah.</p><p>“Yeah.” I replied, trying to think about work or something, anything, else.</p><p>“Hey, good for you.” Allison cheerfully said.</p><p>After getting dressed I went back to my cramped little dorm room.  I tried to get the idea of Allison’s big breasts out of my mind while I looked up the address to see what was there.  It was a place called Horse Trot Ranch, a corporate executive retreat that looked really nice and was so far out of my price range that I doubted I’d ever get to visit.</p><p>When I heard my neighbor start up the porn I took it as my cue to get out.  I got my gun, jacket, and helmet and stuff, and left.  I got onto I-25 and headed north.  And looking that way I saw some nasty gray clouds moving towards the city.  Great, I couldn’t decide which was worse:  ice cold wind or ice cold rain.  At least my new pants were helping keep the chill off my legs.  Yeah, just as skin tight but these were insulated too.</p><p>Not far up the highway was a checkpoint where it became an “International” highway; the requirement for that was to be between the borders of two different sectors.  Once I was through (and the guard was done ogling my ass) it was relatively quick to get up closer to the ranch.  I figured I should’ve gone around the Hub or something instead as I ended up having to go way, way north and past the ranch before I could cross over into the Sioux sector where Northwest Parkway (that’s really way out there) crossed the border.  Had to backtrack a good seven kilometers just to get to the address, and half of that was along the ranch’s western border.  It had a black iron fence that was interrupted occasionally by a snow white concrete block that was topped by a very obvious security sensor dome.  From what little I had read about the place I’d believe it if you told me there was a shit load more to security than what I saw.  Beyond that I saw rolling hills and pastures and an occasional building; the whole thing looked too beautiful to keep hidden behind a fence.</p><p>The navigational aid had the destination marked at the southern end of the ranch.  A few pics I’d seen online showed that it was a bit more open there, like a reception area or drop off kind of place, and there was no gate as it was just an open area.  It was pushing close to six in the evening and the sun was already behind the Rockies.  In the public parking area I saw a familiar looking van and a red sports car.  Lucius was leaning against the hood of that car, and with plenty of space between the two I pulled up my bike there.</p><p>“Hey there, Little Lady.” Lucius said, waving to me while I set the kickstand to my Rapier.  I just waved as I walked up to him.  “Looks like you’re just in time.”</p><p>“I think I should’ve tried going the other way ‘round the Hub.”</p><p>“Bah, don’t worry about it.” scoffed Roland as he hopped out of the passenger side door to his van.  “You’re on time that’s what matters.”</p><p>“Just in time.” Lucius amended, pointing towards a building.  A dark skinned human with darker hair had just come out.  He waved for us to come to him.</p><p>“My name is Hafiz.” he said as we got closer, “Come, my friends.  Mr. Jaron will be speaking with you in the rear stables.”</p><p>As we got closer to the stable the smell of horses, manure, and hay got really strong.  Or at least more noticeable for me through my helmet.  There were no horses in there now, and at the far end was an older man sitting in a wheelchair.  He wore a medium gray suit, a narrow blue and yellow striped tie, and black business shoes.  His hair was almost black save for some gray streaks from his temples, green eyes, and he had a sharp nose that made me think of a bunch of those characters from that old Disney flatvid of Hercules.  You know, the one where Hera was actually a loving mother instead of a jealous bitch?</p><p>“Thank you for coming.” Jaron said, then his eyes focused on me and he looked a little pissed off.  “I presume you were told to come light.” he sternly said.</p><p>“Uh, what?” I asked.  Shit, how’d I manage to fuck this up?</p><p>“You’ll need to surrender your sidearm while you are here.” Jaron said.  Then I noticed he was looking at my gun.</p><p>“Oh, um, sure.” I nervously said.  I was careful about drawing it, like keeping my fingers off the trigger, making sure I wasn’t aiming it at anyone in particular, and the like.  Hafiz seemed a lot more sure of himself as he took my gun.</p><p>“Hafiz will return it to you once you’re ready to leave.” Jaron said.</p><p>“Um, okay.”  I really hoped he wasn’t pissed at me for this.  Not like I knew I should’ve left it behind or something.  Besides, Denver’s a dangerous place and a girl’s gotta protect herself.</p><p>“Now I apologize if I am short with you, but time is of the essence right now.  A package dear to my business was forcefully removed from the ranch this morning.  Your job is going to be to retrieve said package and return it to me.  I’ll pay you a thousand nuyen each now, and six thousand more when you are done.”</p><p>Holy shit!  That was more than double from last week’s little delivery job!</p><p>“Anything more you gonna tell us?” asked Roland.</p><p>“Plenty, when you accept the job.” Jaron answered.</p><p>“Well, how about it everyone?” Lucius asked, looking around at us.</p><p>“Well, I would like to know what the package really is first.” grumbled Roland.</p><p>“I, um, kinda thinking the same.” I added.  “But… I guess…  Okay.”  Guess I was still a little dumbstruck about the money.  Would next week net me nine thousand?</p><p>Roland muttered something before saying, “Fine.”</p><p>I looked over to Risa and Brick.  I saw Brick nodding, but I didn’t see anything from Risa.  Really spooky how she just stood there.  Now I noticed how loose her clothes were, her leggings and sleeves long enough to easily hide her hands and feet.</p><p>“Alright, looks like you’ve got yourself a recovery team.” Lucius said.</p><p>“Alright.” Jaron said, his eyes darting over to something only he could see.  A few seconds later an ARO appeared to me, asking if I approved of a transfer of one thousand nuyen from Jaron Falcone to my account.  I mentally clicked [Yes].</p><p>“The package,” Jaron said, “is Jonathan Belenkiy, a mid-level executive with Ares, currently in charge of their R-and-D department for Personal Arms And Armor.”</p><p>Shit, a person?  When the fuck did a person become a package?</p><p>“When we checked the surveillance footage,” Jaron Falcone continued, “we clearly saw three figures, human or elfin and all Amerindian women, entering the compound just before five o’clock this morning.  All wore light body armor and tribal masks.  Three and a half hours later our host was hacked.  Security protocols kept the hacker from deleting anything.”</p><p>“When did you notice he had gone missing?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“After I had personally received a ransom demand at nine this morning.” Jaron answered.  “If I don’t pay by nine tomorrow morning, the ransomer not only will kill Belenkiy but actively spread word that I chose to let the executive die.  Get me his or her name, and there’s an extra thousand in it for each of you.”</p><p>“How’s he supposed to get his money?”</p><p>“He included a Zurich Orbital account number.”</p><p>Ouch.  Okay, I had honestly no idea what it’d take to get one of those myself, but I really doubted I could.  Zurich Orbital was this big space station in orbit above Earth, a kind of neutral ground for the ten biggest megacorporations on the planet (of which Ares was one).  As far as banking went it was one of those anonymous neutral kinds that pretty much said “fuck you” if you wanted any info on any of its customers.</p><p>“Right, so where do we start?” Roland asked.</p><p>“Belenkiy’s room?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Sealed and yours to search.” Jaron answered.</p><p>“Fifteen hours, and the clock’s ticking.” Lucius said, “Let’s go.”</p><p>“Hafiz will show you.” Jaron said.  I guess he was okay staying there since we just left him in the stables.  Though I guess he’d be able to move out on his own since it was a hard floor and not dirt or mud.</p><p>Lucius made small talk with Hafiz as he led the way through the ranch.  He didn’t take us on a straight path though.  I didn’t see many other people about, so I guess Jaron was wanting this to be as quiet as possible.  We were in one particular lodge when Hafiz stopped at a door.  I heard the click of a heavy deadbolt just before he opened the door for us.  I wasn’t in any hurry to get in, but I still went in with everyone else.</p><p>This Belenkiy was a slob.  Drawers were pulled from their dressers, clothing was everywhere, and I could smell something that seemed rank to me.  Not stale body odor or crap like that, just something…  I really didn’t know what it was.  His room had its own bathroom (lucky shit) and the hurricane had spread into there as well.</p><p>“Smells like Belenkiy liked his patchouli.” commented Lucius as he looked all over the place.</p><p>“Is that what stinks?” I asked.</p><p>“Yup.”</p><p>“Well, I think we got a big clue right up there.” Roland said, pointing at the wall above the head of Belenkiy’s bed.  Sticking out of it was a black knife with a brown wrapped grip.</p><p>Risa hopped up onto the bed, heedless of the mess, and put both hands on the knife.  It didn’t come out right away when she tugged at it, and even had to plant a foot on the wall to get the leverage to pull it free.  When she managed that she went tumbling backwards, but managed to hold onto the knife.  I thought I noticed something…</p><p>“Let’s see that.” Lucius said, easily taking it from Risa’s hands.  He handled it very gingerly, like he was trying to not put any fingerprints on it.  “Looks like obsidian with a leather wrapped grip.”</p><p>“Azzies?” Brick asked.</p><p>“Ghostwalker should’ve done more to kick ‘em out.” muttered Brick.</p><p>Lucius looked at the knife, then the room in general, and back to the knife again.  “I really got my doubts this was Azzie refugees.” he said.</p><p>For what little I’ve heard on this matter, supposedly there were still citizens of Aztechnology (that’s a country and a megacorp at the same time) in Denver after Ghostwalker had everyone kicked out and turned the sector over to the Confederation of American States.  Honestly I thought it was just an urban legend, like Slenderman and alligators in the sewers.</p><p>“Too neat.” Brick said.</p><p>“And too easy.” Lucius added.  “Only reason there should be a knife left like this is if there was a fight.  And don’t forget the Amerindian women who got caught on trid coming and going.”</p><p>“Azzies can get mistaken for Indians, and just look at this place.” Roland said, gesturing with his cybernetic hand at the room in general.</p><p>“And how much of this stuff’s broken or damaged?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“I thought he was just a messy person.” I said.</p><p>“And maybe he is.”</p><p>“A… lie trail?” Risa asked, turning to sit on the bed.  It looked like her feet were just a little short of reaching the floor.</p><p>“A false trail.” Lucius corrected, “A red herring.”</p><p>“So what else do we have to go on?” Roland asked.</p><p>“Um, maybe…” I said.  I pushed past Lucius to get to the bed.  I thought I had seen something and it was starting to bug me now.  All the bed sheets and the pillow were immaculately white, but I thought I had seen something dark under the pillow when Risa had bounced on the bed.  I wasn’t all that concerned about it when I tossed the pillow aside, and revealed a feather with a strip of something tied around it.  I picked it up and showed it for Lucius and everyone to see.</p><p>“Koshari?” Brick asked.</p><p>“I don’t know.” Lucius sighed.  “Something about this still seems all wrong.”</p><p>“They’re known for leaving raven feathers behind.” Roland said, “And this’s got all the hallmarks of a hit.”</p><p>“But why hide it?” Lucius asked.  “I mean, if they’re gonna leave a feather behind then why not leave it someplace obvious like on the pillow?”  He shook his head.  “No, and it’s not like the pillow could’ve conveniently fallen on it after a scuffle, either.”</p><p>I felt warm fingers touch my hand, and looked to see Risa taking my hand in hers.  Her touch was soft, warm, and she pulled my hand over to get a better look at the feather.  “Corvus brachyrhynchos.” she said.</p><p>“Gesundheit?” Roland asked.</p><p>It only took me a second.  “It’s a crow feather.” I said.  “Corvus brachyrhynchos; Latin for the American crow.”  Yes, I had to study Latin for a while, and biology was a required class for me at the university.</p><p>“You’re sure it’s not a raven feather?” asked Lucius.</p><p>“That is corvus corax.” Risa said.  And wow, she was talkative tonight.  She’d said enough that I think I noticed a bit of an accent to her speech.  Not so sure that English was her first language.  And I’m not sure how the hell she knew a crow feather from a raven feather, but she sounded quite confident about it.  Odd that Lucius seemed so eager to take the girl’s word for it, too.</p><p>“So?” Roland asked.</p><p>“Symbolically it’s a really big difference.” Lucius said.  “But that still doesn’t get us any closer.”  He turned to look about the room again.  “Maybe we should hit the streets and start investigating.”</p><p>“I hope you know where to start.” Roland said.</p><p>“Well, I got an idea of who to talk with.”</p><p>Roland grumbled all the way back to our vehicles.  Only then did Hafiz hand me back my pistol.  Granted I almost never carry it when I’m on campus, and I do spend a lot of time on campus, it actually felt… comfortable to have it back.</p><p>And that’s when it started to rain.  Shit.</p><p>“Had a feeling this was going to happen.” Lucius said, looking up at the gray clouds that had moved over us.  “Hey Roland, mind carrying the Little Lady’s motorcycle for a while?”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, why the fuck not?” Roland grumbled back, throwing his hands up in the air.  “C’mon Brick, let’s put the princess’s bike in the back.”</p><p>I watched nervously as Brick first wheeled my Rapier over to the back of the van.  Roland had gotten the doors open, and I noticed that Lucius’s bike was still in the back.  The big ork hefted my bike just as easily as Lucius’s, and thankfully was also careful with it when he pushed it into the van.</p><p>“Guess I’m riding with you?” I asked Lucius.</p><p>“It’ll probably be a lot more comfortable.” the elf replied, “And I promise it’ll be more entertaining.”</p><p>“Fine.” I said in a sour tone.  Before I got in his car I took my helmet off, tossing it in the back seat.  I waited for a minute or two before Lucius got in.  We went first, turning south on Washington Street.</p><p>We sat there in silence for a little while as he drove.  I watched the flat open… nothingness of the Sioux sector go by as the rain continued to intensify, slightly obscuring the ten meter concrete border wall that was about a kilometer away and listening to the repetitive thump-thump of the wipers as they kept brushing water off the windshield.</p><p>It was Lucius who broke the silence.  “Guess you didn’t make that call.”</p><p>“Nope.”</p><p>“What happened?”</p><p>“Thought about it.  Haven’t decided yet.  Just didn’t.”</p><p>“Fair ‘nough.”  After a little bit he then asked, “You try to do any research?  Watch some of those programs?”</p><p>“A little.  Few episodes of <em>Karl Kombatmage</em>.”</p><p>Lucius chuckled.</p><p>“Yeah.  Seemed really bad.  The acting, the action…”</p><p>“And hardly anything like reality.”</p><p>“Yeah.” I agreed.  I had only seen a few episodes, kinda forced myself to and now I really didn’t want to watch any more of them, but I had noticed something that had made me think about myself and the others.  “But it made me think.”</p><p>“Oh?”</p><p>“Like, you’re a face.  All silk tongue and bullshit; a face.  Risa’s a mage, a summoner.  Brick’s kinda like a street sam.  Roland’s, I guess, a rigger.”  They seemed to make these really distinct class… distinctions in <em>Karl Kombatmage</em> in what I had watched.</p><p>“Close enough, I suppose.”</p><p>“But I can’t figure where I fit.” I confessed.</p><p>“Ah, so that’s it.”</p><p>“I mean, last time I… I…  I’m not sure what I did.”</p><p>“Sometimes being there is all that’s needed.” Lucius told me.  “But then, figuring out what you bring to the table, maybe if we knew what magic you can do.”</p><p>I turned to stare at him.  How the fuck did he know?</p><p>“Bet you’re wondering how I know.” he said, not even taking his eyes off the road.  “See, you’re right that I’m a face.  But I’m an adept of the Speaker’s way.  There’s a touch of magic that infuses my senses and my control over my body.  I’m more likely to notice a person’s tell, those little twitches and physical clues most people don’t even know they have.  And on top of all that I can read a person’s aura.”</p><p>Shit, I forgot completely about that.  I looked from him to my own hands in my lap.</p><p>“Now before you tell me anything about yourself,” Lucius continued, “consider this:  unlike <em>Karl Kombatmage</em>, this is a world of knowledge and secrets.  Blind trust is often fatal.  It is best to keep some things close to the heart.”</p><p>Well, to be honest I did think about what he just said.  Hell, I’d kept my spellcasting a secret forever.  Nobody knew I could do any sorcery, not even that so-called nurse’s aide that had ousted me as awakened when I was twelve.  Hell, most of the spells I could do weren’t really all that obvious anyway.</p><p>“I was in middle school when I awakened,” I softly said, “during track practice.  It didn’t seem like much at first, I seemed to run a little faster than everyone else, my balance just a little better.  Then when it came to doing a long jump I cleared nine meters.”</p><p>“Wow, impressive.” Lucius said.</p><p>“And greater than most Olympic records.” I added.  “I didn’t know magic helped me, and the week after my aura was read.  After a few tests they said I was a physical adept.”</p><p>“Did you get stripped of your achievement?”</p><p>“Sorta.”  I could remember feeling really angry when it happened.  “It got left in the records, but they added ‘Augmented’ to it.  I felt cheated.”</p><p>“Yeah, but that’s the norm for those things these days.” Lucius told me, “Ever since the awakening and cybernetics, anything involving mana’s got that ‘Augmented’ tag to it.  So is it just that?”</p><p>“Not really.  Later figured out how to run up walls.  Been able to make it up five meters a few times, but that seems to be about my limit.”  And that was all I was going to tell him, too.</p><p>“Sounds like you’re well on the path of the Athlete’s Way.”  I couldn’t tell how he felt about that, like if it was good or bad or what.</p><p>But athletics were kinda one of my big interests, and it seemed to be where that side of my magical talent had gone towards.  Granted, as my magical power grew I found I could direct where and how that power was applied, like towards my sorcery aptitude or to improving myself athletically.</p><p>However there was something I could do that I had actually forgotten about.  Magicians could do it freely, but not all adepts could unless they tried for it, and that was to open their Third Eye.  At least, that’s what I called it.  Clearly Lucius could as he pretty much had just told me he had read my aura.</p><p>And so could I.  I just wasn’t very good at understanding what I saw.</p><p>So I turned my attention back out to the west, the mountains, and the border wall.  It didn’t take much, really, just a little focus to mentally open up that window.</p><p>Most of the real world was gone.  The interior of the car was largely dull and lifeless, like a video game without any textures to the polygons.  Just a neutral gray without much substance.  But I could sense Lucius next to me, his aura being the only one in the car besides mine.</p><p>Now I’d had a chance to listen to a few magicians.  Fuck, a Practical Magic Application course had been required for me when I was in high school just because I had a bit of talent.  I barely passed it because a lot of that formulaic mumbo jumbo made absolutely little to no sense to me, and was largely a waste of time because it almost all focused on spells.  So while I’m sure a person’s aura is nice and orderly and readable like a dry data file to some hermetic, all I see is a glob of swirling colors and flashing lights.  For the most part I think I get it wrong, trying to figure out what it all means.</p><p>But something I have relatively figured out well enough is how to tell if someone’s awakened, just like that nurse’s aide and Lucius did to me.  For hermetics I’m sure there’s some kind of special symbol they’ll see, but all I get is a kind of core intensity to a person’s aura.  If they’re mundane, or a sleeper as some call it, there’s no such ‘intense’ core.  Sometimes I can even get a gauge on their power level.  No, not like “It’s over nine thousand!” or some dumb shit like that.  It’s a lot more general, like if they’re about on par with me, weaker, or stronger.  And there’s other things too that I can get, but usually not so easily.</p><p>So I tried to get a gauge on Lucius.  It might’ve seemed obvious from our chat, but the read I got just backed that he was in a curious mood.  Yeah, big surprise there.  But I did get that core intensity, so he wasn’t bullshitting me about being an adept, I guess.  But if my guess was right, he actually wasn’t more magically powerful than I was.  Huh, go figure.</p><p>Or maybe I’m wrong and he’s got way more mojo than I can comprehend.</p><p>And just as easily to focus just a little, and close that Third Eye so I could see everything normally again.</p><p>“So here’s what I’m thinking,” Lucius said, “and assuming Felix knows of your little tricks here he’s probably thinking you’re gonna end up learning how to be a sneak thief, an infiltrator.”</p><p>“Breaking into places?”</p><p>“Something like that, yeah.”</p><p>Hmm, maybe I could get into that, assuming I kept up doing stuff like this.  But then my stomach soured as I thought about breaking the law.  Maybe I shouldn’t worry about that since I did that, twice, last week.  Or maybe more, I don’t know.</p><p>We sat in silence the rest of the way.  Hell, the southern border wall was barely visible straight ahead of us by the time he pulled off the road and drove around into the parking lot of a McHugh’s.  “Why’re we stopping here?” I asked.</p><p>“Partly because Roland texted me, complaining about being hungry.  We didn’t really get much for dinner before getting out to the ranch, either.”</p><p>My stomach decided now was the best moment to announce it was empty.  And it did so very loudly.</p><p>“Guess we’re not the only ones that missed dinner.” Lucius added with an amused grin as he pulled up into a parking space right next to the building.  Then he turned to me and said, “Right, so you know how this’s gonna go down.  You and I are gonna go in and grab something to eat while the others go through the drive-thru and wait for us in the parking lot.  A contact of mine will be joining us here.  Let me do the talking.”</p><p>“Fine by me.” I said, “Not sure what to say anyway.”</p><p>“And that’s just fine.  Keep your eyes and ears open, though.  Watch, listen, and especially learn.”  He then turned away and got out of the car.  I followed him, and it was pouring down rain when we did.</p><p>So I’ll bet you’re wondering when Lucius made that call or how Roland told him he was hungry.  Most likely Lucius sent a text to the guy we were gonna meet, all by thought while driving since he likely had trodes and contacts like what I use.  Ever since the wireless matrix and all really kicked up a few years ago it’s not really that weird.  I mean, it’s how I participated in that group chat last week when we were playing courier.</p><p>The McHugh’s here was pretty much like any other I’d been to, in Seattle or Denver’s CAS sector.  Clean, bright and playful colors, cartoon characters that looked like food decorating the walls, and a few family groups taking up space close to the playland area.  Most were human, but one family group were a bunch of orks.</p><p>Now that’s where the similarities ended, as I really noticed that everyone but Lucius and myself were Amerindian.  Everyone had copper skin, straight black hair, and dark eyes.  That, though, was where their similarities ended as everyone came in the usual variety of shapes and sizes.  A pretty girl a few years younger than me took our orders, though she seemed a bit chill about it.  I figure she didn’t like white people at all, but at least she didn’t do anything else about it.  Lucius paid her for my meal, too.</p><p>“Just so you know, this isn’t a date.” Lucius told me as he led us over to a more private booth to sit down.  I took the bench opposite of him.  Decorating the wall beside us was a cartoon hamburger with googly eyes, spaghetti limbs, and big white clown gloves and shoes.</p><p>“Hey, fine by me.  Wasn’t really expecting anything anyway.  So, when’s he supposed to be here?” I asked as I unwrapped my burg’r.</p><p>“Not sure.” Lucius confessed as he liberated his burg’r as well.  “He’s just a little old school.  Always says he’ll be here or there in ‘Indian Time.’”</p><p>“That’d be a pain,” I said with a bite of burg’r in my mouth, “doing the math to figure out what time it is in India.”</p><p>Lucius chuckled.  “Wrong Indian.” he said, “It’s an American thing.  But there’s no calculating it.  Really means ‘whenever.’”</p><p>“So then it’d be like…  Excuse me!”</p><p>Two Amerindian guys just walked over to our table and sat down, both with a tray of food, and just like they were supposed to be there.  They both wore jeans and denim jackets over white shirts, and their dark hair was cut short.  I scooted myself closer to the wall to put some space between me and the guy that decided to sit next to me.</p><p>“Think we’ve got enough?” the guy next to me asked.</p><p>“Might have to carve up and eat this dandelion eater.” the other guy answered.  “Though the bitch’s a little loud.  Might have to give her something to quiet her.”</p><p>“C’mon Iron Bear, you should know I’ll plug up your gut worse than a bear’s at hibernation.” Lucius told the guy next to him.  “And the Little Lady here’s her own person, though I’d probably feel obliged to help defend her honor by beating the tar out of you.”</p><p>“And here I thought white women were all soft.” the one I guess was Iron Bear said.  I made a noise that I’d claim was a growl, though maybe it sounded a little cuter from how the other guy chuckled.</p><p>“I could take her and find out for you.  Give her something… hard to toughen her up.” his friend said, scooting closer to me.</p><p>I felt myself tense up when he almost brushed up against my side.  “Touch me and I’ll rip your arm off.” I said through clenched teeth.</p><p>Lucius held up a hand, and the other guy actually paused.  “She’ll do it.” he told him as he put his hand back down, “Last week a guy grabbed her ass and he ended up eating the floor with her knee in his back.”</p><p>Iron Bear chuckled, and the other guy actually scooted back a bit.  Maybe a bit closer to the edge, I don’t know.  “I think her hair’s the wrong color.” Iron Bear said, “Should be red, she’s fiery.”  He grinned as he looked at me.</p><p>“Glad you could make it.” Lucius said, taking another bite of his burg’r while the other two guys unwrapped theirs.  Um, okay, that was weird.  Must be a guy thing.</p><p>The guy next to me started eating, but Iron Bear said, “So, let’s see it.” before taking a bite of his own burg’r.</p><p>Lucius produced the black feather I found earlier, setting it down on the table between all of us.  Iron Bear picked it up with one hand, holding his burg’r with the other while chewing and looking at the feather thoughtfully.  He swallowed before saying, “Almost looks Koshari.” he said.</p><p>“We already know it’s not.  Got an expert that says it’s crow, not raven.” Lucius countered.  Risa’s an expert?  Shit, now I can’t remember the word for that, whatever a bird expert’s called.</p><p>Iron Bear grinned.  “Pretty plain it’s not them, anyway.” he said, “They drop raven feathers when they do their hits, maybe other times too.  But this,” he indicated the little leather knot with the feather, “means it’s not them.”  He placed the feather back down and said, “Means it’s the Black Cats.”</p><p>“The Black Cats?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Who’re they?” I asked.</p><p>“Four Sioux women.” the other guy said.  “They’re tight.”</p><p>“How tight?” I asked.</p><p>The guy next to me chuckled.  “Scan is they walked off a job, middle of an extraction, because Johnson insulted one of them.”</p><p>I felt my eyebrows go up at that.  I sipped at my cola as I thought about it.  Hopefully it wasn’t this job that they’d walked off of.  No, not possible.  How’d Iron Bear know that quickly?</p><p>“Any way we can get in touch with them?” Lucius asked.</p><p>Iron Bear shook his head.  “We mostly know them by reputation.  But I hear they hang out at the Hardpan sometimes.”  He then nodded to his friend and they both got up and moved to another booth.</p><p>“Well, looks like that’s about all they’ll share with us.” Lucius told me.</p><p>“It always like this?” I asked.</p><p>“Frequently, yes.  Sometimes you get what you need.  And sometimes you get pointed in the right direction.”</p><p>My eyes drifted away from Lucius, looking at some random bit of scaffolding that held together some playland climbing toy.  “Hardpan.” I softly said.</p><p>“Bingo.”</p><p>We ate the rest of our food in silence.  Too bad the rain hadn’t let up while we were in there.  Once in the car I sat there and listened while Lucius updated Roland and the others on what we’d found out.  Then it was off to the Hardpan.</p><p>Now I wish I knew what to think when we got to the Hardpan.  It was quite literally the next cross street south of us.  There was no wind but the rain was coming down ice cold as we walked from the parking lot to the bar.  I was kinda nervous about walking into a bar, but kept reminding myself I’m not in trouble if I don’t order any booze.  Most of the vehicles in the lot were jacked up pickups and battered jeeps, all stuff that’s made to go off road, chewing up the trails and spitting out little bones.  Lucius’s car was literally the only car in the lot, and Roland’s van the only one of its kind as well.  I sure as fuck felt out of place right now, and we hadn’t even gone inside yet.  I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.</p><p>And if I hadn’t thought that feeling couldn’t get any lower, it did when we all walked inside.  Straight ahead of us were about half a dozen tables, and to the right was the bar with about a dozen stools; there wasn’t a seat available.  Brick and Roland almost looked like they might belong there with their skin tones (which were still a bit light), but both of them had hair and eyes were a dead giveaway that neither wasn’t an Amerindian.  Maybe tiny Risa could look the part, if she wasn’t dressed beyond head-to-toe like last week, but then I had no idea what her hair color was (it could’ve been snow white for all I knew).  Everyone inside was clearly Amerindian, all copper skin and black hair.  Of course that’s where the similarities between everyone there ended.  I noticed most of the people were human, though there were several orks and a few elves in the mix.</p><p>Behind the bar was a human woman, her hair long and loose as it hung down her back.  Her eyes were very obvious cybernetic replacements, which only made her stare feel all the more chilling.</p><p>That’s when I noticed a lot of them staring at us.  I don’t blame them.  We pretty much stood out like a troll at a dwarf family reunion.</p><p>If it bothered Lucius he didn’t show it.  He casually walked up to the bar and started talking to the woman behind it.  I was a bit more concerned about the others, though since we didn’t seem to be making any threats or what not they slowly started going back to whatever it was they were doing.  I took a few cautious steps further in, looking around for… I don’t know, whatever.  When I turned to face the bar I noticed hanging behind the bartender was a wooden sign that said, among other things I couldn’t read, “No Smoking.”</p><p>Someone grabbed my ass, again, and I tried whipping my hand around to grab the offender.  I guess I also cried out again, which, hey, it’s normal.  When I spun around, having nothing but air in my hand, I saw a human Amerindian standing a few paces back.  He had a really big grin on his face, and a couple of buddies behind him were laughing.  The one was a bit taller than me but more gangly, not as broad to go with that extra height.</p><p>“Don’t touch me.” I growled.</p><p>His grin grew bigger.  “I will if I want.” he said.  He reached for me, and I slapped his hand aside.</p><p>“Don’t.” I reiterated, glaring at him, “I’ll rip your arm off.”</p><p>If anything his grin grew bigger.  “What’s a little white girl know about that?” he asked.  Then he stepped in so close to me so quickly I didn’t know what to do.  I felt his hand on my ass, again, and my eyes went wide.  He laughed.  When he squeezed me I went up on tiptoe to try and get out of his grip, and he laughed some more.</p><p>Then I slammed my forehead into his face.  He lost his grip on me and staggered back, but not before I was able to grab his wrist, giving his arm a good yank back to me.  I sidestepped him, keeping my hold on his wrist and tripped him as he went by.  When he hit the floor, face first, I was kneeling on his back and pushing his arm up as hard as I could.  It really felt satisfying to hear him scream.</p><p>Someone hit me from behind and I saw stars.  Next thing I knew I was on the floor and someone had literally kicked my ass.  I felt more feet hitting me, and I curled up as best I could into a ball.  The pounding of little me seemed to go on and on forever.</p><p>They stopped when I heard an explosion.</p><p>“Everyone, back off!” a woman barked, her voice husky and loaded with that kind of tone that practically screamed authority and expected obedience.</p><p>I felt tiny hands at my back trying to move me.  Slowly I uncurled myself so I could try and sit up, grunting with pain for the effort.  Kinda amazing how quickly I could go from feeling fine to hurting all over.</p><p>“Risa, take her out to my car.” I heard Lucius say.  He sounded pissed.</p><p>When I turned to look behind me I saw it was Risa helping me get back on my feet.  Even Brick came up, offering me a hand.  I let him hang there as I pushed myself back up to my feet.  Even though Risa was hovering close, she didn’t actually help me anymore as I slowly stood up on my own.  Doing my best to not fall over I turned to look at the others.  I can’t remember their expressions, but I do recall seeing the one I headbutted being helped into a chair, the arm I had tried to twist out of the socket being held carefully, his nose fairly well bloodied as his mouth and chin were dripping red.  I turned to the door and slowly walked out, one long step with the left foot and a really quick pace with the right (my right hip really hurt; I think someone kicked me there plenty hard).  Risa was right at my side, but letting me take each wobbly step on my own.</p><p>I managed maybe two or three steps more after the door closed before I couldn’t stand any more.  My whole right leg refused to support me.  I didn’t fight Risa off as she stepped right up, putting my right arm across her shoulders and helping me stand, helping me walk the rest of the way to Lucius’s car.  She got the back door open for me, and I practically fell into the back seat.  I managed to get myself upright again when she came around to the other side to join me.  She ended up lightly kicking my helmet as she took the middle part of the back seat.</p><p>“Guess I really fucked up.” I said, not really talking to Risa, or anyone in particular for that matter.</p><p>Risa’s response was to scoot in closer and gently lean against my side.  She didn’t say anything, was just a gentle, warm presence beside me.</p><p>I have no idea how much time passed.  I think I was starting to doze off, hypnotized by the heavy drizzle of rain as it relentlessly pounded down on the roof of Lucius’s car, when the next thing I knew Lucius was now sitting in the driver’s seat and had just closed the door.  I blinked a few times, trying to get my eyes to focus.  Guess it hadn’t been too long as I still hurt all over, but the pain was more like a dull throbbing all over now.</p><p>“Risa, could you give us a minute?”</p><p>I looked to Risa, and saw her looking back at me.  I really wish I could’ve seen her face behind her mask, any tells I might’ve been able to spot.  Instead she turned for the door and got out.</p><p>“Well, that could’ve gone a lot better.” Lucius said.</p><p>I looked down at my knees.  “Sorry.” I muttered.</p><p>“Just what the hell were you thinking?”</p><p>Looking up I saw that Lucius had adjusted the rearview mirror so he could look at me.  I glared at him.  “Fucker grabbed my ass!  I told him I’d rip his arm off if he did it again and…”</p><p>He held up a hand, and that’s when I stopped.  “Threats are one thing, but actual violence is something else, even with the Sioux.” he told me.  “And what you did was way over the top.  You have any idea how many of those patrons are also armed?”  He paused to give me a little time to think of an answer.  When I shook my head he barked, “All of them!  And it’s not just pea shooters, either.  All Sioux at the age of eighteen must take a minimum one year tour in the military.  Whatever they’re packing, they know how to use it.”</p><p>Gulp.  I looked back down at my knees again, feeling a new throbbing pain in the side of my neck when I moved my head.</p><p>“But,” he said in a gentler tone, “I’m not so sure if it made a difference.”  He sighed and continued, “We struck out in trying to get in touch with the Black Cats.  I’m sure the bartender knows them, knows how to get in touch with them somehow, but adamantly refused to help us.”</p><p>“Certainly wouldn’t’ve helped.” I muttered.</p><p>“True.”</p><p>I looked up, just moving my eyes.  Maybe if I was better at it I could pull off the “cute puppy dog eyes” thing, but I’d never really been all that good at trying to be cute and pathetic.</p><p>“So, what’s next?” I softly asked.</p><p>“Next we try a little digging on Belenkiy.” Lucius told me.  “Roland’s got a few friends he’s going to try hitting up for a scan.  Also told me he had a few other ideas we’d just need to wait on, though he wouldn’t tell me anything.”</p><p>“Is that normal?”</p><p>“Pretty much.  We don’t share everything, you know.”</p><p>There was a rap at the passenger side window.  I turned my eyes to look and saw Risa still standing there.</p><p>“Shit.  She been there all this time?” Lucius asked no one in particular.  He hit the dome light then waved her in.  She chose the back seat, climbing back over my helmet again to be right at my side.  I would’ve sworn she was soaked, but it looked like her clothing had been made to be really water resistant or water proof, or whatever.</p><p>“Okay?” Risa softly asked.</p><p>“Yeah, we’re fine.” Lucius answered, killing the dome light and bathing us in darkness once more.</p><p>I leaned back as best I could, wishing the back seat could recline at all.  I was also wishing I could go back inside the bar and kick some ass, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen.  Mother fuckers wouldn’t be obliging enough.  The sound of the pouring rain was rather hypnotizing, I guess, as I never noticed when Lucius started up his car.  Hell, I hadn’t even known we were going anywhere until after it felt like he had pulled into another parking lot.</p><p>“Where are we?” Risa softly asked.</p><p>“Place called Marcel’s.” Lucius told us, “C’mon, we’re meeting someone inside.”</p><p>The weather hadn’t really changed, the rain coming down in buckets.  If anything it’d gotten even colder.  Right now I’d’ve loved a hot shower to help loosen up my aching muscles.  My hip didn’t feel any better as I followed Lucius to what looked like a restaurant’s front door.  Risa was right by my side again and a little begrudgingly I accepted her help as the five of us walked in.</p><p>This time Roland did the talking, though still gruff when he spoke to the hostess.  She was human, scantily dressed in what looked like a black leather bikini (and showing off more curves than me, the bitch).  She also had a rather long and super fluffy tail coming up from her ass, golden and black fur that matched the striping pattern in her hair.  That tail was perked up like a dog’s when it’s happy, swishing side to side with her hips as she walked.</p><p>The dining area was open, with subdued light and decorated in rich reds and warm dark tones.  A lot of tables were occupied, and most of them looked like the corporate wageslave types.  You know, suit and tie and slicked back hair.  Like most places one wall was all large windows, but the opposite wall was a lot of large mirrors.</p><p>What was really outrageous was all the waitresses.  There was a cat girl (less the fur but still with a black furry tail and ears), another elfin woman with a multitude of piercings through her ears as well as a few through her lips and nose, and a human woman whose arms and legs were replaced with very well shaped chrome cybernetics.  She was also wearing a bikini that looked more like liquid mercury, and seemed to do little to support her ample breasts.  I guess she even had a spine replacement as when she turned her back to us I could see little scale like plates running down her back.</p><p>I was really glad when we finally got to our table, a longer one made to seat eight regular sized people.</p><p>“Can I get you anything to drink?” she asked as we all sat down.  I took a middle chair that put my back to the big mirrored wall.  Lucius was at my left at and Risa had scooted her chair just a little closer to me on my right.</p><p>“Hurlg.” Brick said as he took his seat at the other side of the table from me, his chair creaking just a little.</p><p>“Make it two.” Roland said as he climbed up into his chair at Brick’s right.  It wasn’t exactly a kid’s booster chair, but one of those made specifically for dwarves to be higher up so their chins weren’t practically on the table.</p><p>“A bottle of Dunkelzahn’s Familiar.” Lucius said.</p><p>“Hot chocolate, hot and thick.” I said.  Risa held up two fingers.</p><p>“Thank you.” she said, turning and leaving us.</p><p>“Anything we ought to know?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“He’s s’posed to know our guy.” Roland told us, “He’s well connected with the family that owns this place.”</p><p>“Family?” I asked.  What the hell kind of family would run a place like this?  I was really wondering that when I saw a male waiter walk by, both of his legs and the lower part of his arms were replaced and made to give him a reptilian look, which was helped by the added meter long tail and four curling horns that rose up from his shaved head.  Oh, and his legs had that freaky double jointed action going too.</p><p>“Casquilho.” Lucius softly said.</p><p>Well, okay, one of the mafia families I’ve heard of.  Guess that kind of family would.</p><p>We waited in silence for a little while longer, and by then another waitress had come with a cart and our drinks.  She had a few augmentations too with both of her arms and legs being fully replaced.  However they were also completely coated with LED screens, displaying a literal rainbow of constantly shifting colors set to make it look like they were flowing down her arms and legs.  Even her hair had been replaced with something that mimicked the rainbow motion, and she wore a really scant string bikini made to look like little cotton ball clouds were barely covering up the naughty bits.  She slowly went around, handing out our drinks.  And she was so obvious when she bent over just that little extra so the guys could get a better look at her cleavage (not like there was much hidden to begin with).  Risa and I were last to get our drinks, really big mugs of steaming hot chocolate.  I also got a really good look at… her skin!  Yeah, her really smooth looking skin.  From behind it almost looked like she wasn’t wearing anything at all.</p><p>I gratefully took the mug with both hands, just about ignoring that it had a handle.  I let it warm my fingers up for a little bit, inhaling that delicious scent, savoring it, before quickly downing a good mouthful.  It was thicker, creamy, and maybe just a bit on the too hot side, but I was still feeling a little cold to care about that.  I could feel its radiant warmth spreading through my chest.</p><p>“Feeling better?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Yeah.” I said, taking another hot mouthful of creamy chocolate.</p><p>“What the hell happened to her?” a new voice asked.  He sounded just as gruff as Roland typically did.  A chair thunked on the floor as another dwarf sat down at the end next to Lucius and Roland.  He had black hair and dark eyes, his beard was trimmed much shorter than Roland’s, and his skin was about as dark as Risa’s but seemed like someone had added a bit more red to his.  He had really broad shoulders and looked like he regularly worked out with heavy free weights.  From his jaw line down, and still visible beneath the tight white tank top he wore, was a multitude of tribal styled tattoos, all the way down to his fingers and completely covering his arms.</p><p>“You think that’s nasty, you should see the other guy.” Lucius said.</p><p>The dwarf snorted.  “What happened to him?”</p><p>“Broken nose, lots of blood, dislocated shoulder.” Lucius calmly said just before taking a sip of his drink.  Then he added, “He tried getting a bit friendly with the Little Lady.”</p><p>“Looks like she could use a stiff one.”</p><p>I glared at the dwarf, and flipped him off.  He burst out laughing, though I couldn’t tell if it was at my expense or not.</p><p>When the dwarf finally settled down he said, “Alright, chummer.  You called, so what’re you pushing?”</p><p>“You know a human named Belenkiy?” asked Roland.</p><p>“Yeah, weapons guy.  Works for Ares.”</p><p>“He’s missing.” Roland told him.</p><p>I don’t think the other dwarf liked hearing that.  Not from the way he scowled.</p><p>“What do you know about his job at Ares?” Lucius asked.  This drew a harder look from the dwarf.</p><p>“Look, we’re trying to find him, bring him back.” Lucius said, “Frankly we don’t give a shit what the scan is between him and you or the family, but suffice it to say that whatever kind of relationship you’ve got with him it’s over if we don’t find him and bring him back.  We need help to do that.”</p><p>The dwarf practically growled as he sat there, thinking.  Then he kicked his chair back, hopped down, and walked off.  I looked at the others to try and figure out what just happened.  All I got was a shrug from Risa when I looked at her.  I noticed that she had managed something with her mask so she could drink, and I could see a little bit of her mouth and such when she took a sip of her hot chocolate.</p><p>“So, what’re we gonna do?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“We wait.” Roland said.  “He didn’t tell us to leave.”</p><p>“He didn’t exactly tell us to wait, either.” Lucius added.</p><p>I was in favor of waiting.  I ached and the less I moved the better I was feeling.  Besides, I hadn’t finished my hot chocolate and I was finally starting to feel comfortable again.</p><p>By the time I finished my drink I needed to pee.  Maybe Risa did too, as she came with me to the restroom.  My hip wasn’t any better, and at best I managed to hobble my way there, so maybe she thought she’d be there to catch me if I fell.  Well, I managed to get there, piss and all that, and hobble back on my own.  Along the way I got a few more looks at cyber-lizard-man, and tried to push aside a few dirty thoughts I was starting to have about the rest of his goods as I shambled back to our table.</p><p>The other dwarf was already back by the time Risa and I returned.  I caught him eyeing me as I sorely sat my ass back down again.</p><p>“What the hell’d that guy do to you?”</p><p>“Grabbed my ass.” I told him.</p><p>“That’s a hell of a grab.”</p><p>“Oh, that’s not from him grabbing her.” Lucius said.  “That’s what half a dozen of his friends did after she tried to rip his arm off.”</p><p>The dwarf grunted.  “Panty waste.”  He gave me one more look before turning to Roland to say, “So, you got what you need?”</p><p>“Yeah, I think what all we know we can find him.” Roland said.</p><p>“Well, we should get going.” Lucius said, pushing his chair back.  The rest of us did the same.</p><p>“Hey, hold up.” the dwarf said just as we started walking way.  I turned to look back at him and saw him push his chair back too to hop off.  He walked right up to me.  “Respect.” he said, holding up a fist.</p><p>I wasn’t quite sure what I was supposed to do, but I took a guess from some of the trids I’d seen.  I gave him a short nod and lightly rapped his fist with one of my own.  He nodded and smiled.  We paid our bill on the way out.</p><p>Once I was out of the freezing rain (won’t it ever let up?) and back in the front seat of Lucius’s car I asked, “So, what’d we get?”  This time Risa had gone to the van with Roland and Brick.</p><p>“A location where Belenkiy was seen with one of the Black Cats, and the fact that he’s got a tracking chip in his left leg.” Lucius told me.</p><p>“Would’ve been nice if Jaron had told us ‘bout it.” I said as I looked out the window.  There wasn’t much to see aside from a few car headlights and a lot of rain.</p><p>“Probably doesn’t even know about it.” Lucius said, “Otherwise I’m sure he’d have had his own security people track him down.”</p><p>“Yeah, I guess.”</p><p>“Still hurting?” Lucius asked.  When I didn’t answer he added, “Saw how you’re still limping.”</p><p>“That dwarf noticed too.  So?”</p><p>“So, I think we’ll need you at a hundred percent before we try and pull Belenkiy’s ass out of the fire.”  He started up his car and drove us out of the parking lot.  We hadn’t gone a block when a heavy metal riff started playing from his commlink.</p><p>“Hey Roland,” he said, “we’re gonna hit up a Stuffer Shack that’s just south of us for a few stims and such.  The Little Lady’s still achin’ from the beatin’ she took.”</p><p>I groaned.  It wasn’t from my aching body.</p><p>“Got it.” Roland replied, his voice coming from the car’s speakers.  “Hang on.”  There was a good pause before he continued, saying, “Look, this trace’s gonna take a while, so no rush to meet back up here.  Brick’s wonderin’ if ya can also grab a six-pack of Buzz Cola Nitro.  And Risa would like anything lemon flavored.”</p><p>“Nothing for yourself?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Naw, I’m good for now.”</p><p>“Right.  Won’t try to take long.”  There was a double tone and I figured Lucius had hung up.</p><p>The Stuffer Shack wasn’t really that far away at all, and practically on the border to the UCAS sector.  I think I was walking a little better as we headed inside.  Thankfully there was a really close parking space so I didn’t have to get too wet, again.  Blasted rain.</p><p>There’s quite literally a shit load of… well, shit you can buy at a Stuffer Shack.  I’d hope whoever came up with the idea was raking in the fortune.  The only people that work in one are pretty much stockers (and their wages are worse than shit); there’s no cashier because the whole place is otherwise nothing but vending machines.  If you think you can sell anything out of a vending machine, odds are you can find it in a Stuffer Shack.</p><p>Funny thing about them around Denver is that they’re actually still here.  Ghostwalker practically kicked all of Aztechnology out, but left all of the Stuffer Shacks that the mega owns.  Maybe he didn’t know who really owned them at the time?</p><p>We both went down one aisle that seemed to focus on medical shit and the like.  Band aids, deodorant, shampoos, and stuff like it.</p><p>“Right, here we go.” Lucius said, stopping in front of a machine.  He made a selection and out popped a small tube of something.  It was then that I noticed he had a bundle under one arm as well.</p><p>“What’s that?” I asked.</p><p>“A little something for sore muscles with a pain reliever.” he said.  “And this,” he held out the bundle, “is a medkit I keep under my seat in the car.”  He indicated behind me, “We’ll use the restroom in the back to get you patched up.”</p><p>Now I was starting to feel a little unsure about this, but I went ahead and walked back to the restrooms.  Lucky me, the lady’s room was empty.  Lucius followed me in to boot.</p><p>“Now before you get all excited,” Lucius said as he placed the medkit and stuff on the counter, “you don’t have to strip if you don’t want to.  Things will be easier if I help you, though.”</p><p>“Great.” I muttered.</p><p>“First let’s take a look at that hip of yours.”</p><p>I took off my jacket and set it aside.  Then I lifted up my shirt just a little before pulling down my pants on my right side just a little.  I hissed at a new kind of pain that threatened to make my leg give out.</p><p>“Ouch, that’s a nasty looking bruise.” commented Lucius, and he actually pulled my panties down just a bit.  I forced myself to keep calm, reminding myself that he wasn’t trying to get a hand in where it wasn’t supposed to go but trying to help me out.</p><p>He did seem rather professional about it as he went to his medkit and pulled a few things out of it.  First was a light spritzing of some kind of spray, which felt really cold.</p><p>“So, what’re you going to tell your friends?” he asked as he applied another topical, gently rubbing in small circles on my hip.</p><p>“The truth, I guess.” I answered, “That a bunch of guys jumped me on a job and tried to kick the shit outta me.”</p><p>“You show them this bruise,” Lucius said, switching over to what was now feeling like the pain reliever, “and they’ll believe you no question.”</p><p>Now I had thought he was being professional, until I felt his fingers go where I thought they didn’t need to.  “Hey!” I cried out, spinning on him as fast as I could.  He had already taken a few steps back, holding his hands up in surrender.  I gritted my teeth, glaring at him as best I could.</p><p>“Easy there.  Whatever you think I was going to do, you’re wrong.”</p><p>“Trying to grab my ass too?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Liar!”</p><p>“Honest to ghost, I wasn’t trying to grab your ass.”</p><p>I stared him down.</p><p>“Okay, you want the chip truth?” he asked me.</p><p>I still stared at him.</p><p>“Alright, I’ll take that as a yes.” he said, putting his hands down but taking a few more steps back.  “For a human you’re very attractive.  The thought’s crossed my mind about what it’d be like to really get to know you in a carnal sense.”</p><p>I growled, and I could feel my grip tightening on the counter behind me.</p><p>“But believe me when I tell you I don’t get that involved with anyone I work with a lot, or might work with a lot.” he continued.  “Things… never work out.”</p><p>“You expect me to believe that?” I asked.  “Shit, you could just go home after this job and jerk off thinking about me being naked and all that.”</p><p>“I wouldn’t go that far.” he told me.  Hell, looked like I had verbally wounded him.  “And I get it.  Guys aren’t your thing.  No shame in that.”</p><p>Was I that obvious?  To someone whose job it is to read people maybe I am.</p><p>“And yes, it was kinda obvious.” he told me.  “Not just how you more than threatened that guy in the Hardpan, or me, but also that waitress at Marcel’s.  I saw how flushed you got when she brushed up beside you.  Yes, she has really nice tits.”</p><p>Now I looked away from him.</p><p>“I promise I’m not trying to do anything… kinky with you.” Lucius told me.  “How’s your back?”</p><p>“My back?”</p><p>He made a spinny gesture with one hand.  “Turn around and let’s take a look at your back.” he said.  “No need to strip.  Just lift your shirt up to your shoulders and leave your bra on.  I promise, no groping.”</p><p>Sighing I turned around and went ahead and did as he suggested.  Felt rather humiliating.</p><p>“Yeah, those assholes really got you tenderized.” Lucius commented.  “Kinda surprised you’re not in as much pain as this looks.”</p><p>“Didn’t really feel anything.” I told him.</p><p>“Well, this might sting a little.” he warned just before he started with the spritzer stuff again.</p><p>And yeah, it actually did sting a bit.  After a few hits of the stuff the pain started to subside.</p><p>“Lucky me, they kept it all lower.” Lucius said when he switched over to the next topical.  “Any good kicks higher and I’d have to undo your bra.”</p><p>“Yeah, lucky you.” I said darkly, imagining myself kicking him in the crotch.  I guess I had fallen on my left side since he was a lot more focused on the right side of my back and ribs.  When he started on the pain killer I thought at first he was trying to get handsy as well, until I felt how hard he was pressing in.  I figured he was giving my side a bit of massage as well, to try and loosen up any tight muscles I didn’t know I had.</p><p>“There, all done.” he announced, cleaning up what little mess he had made.  “Give that another minute or two to air dry and you should be fine covering up.  I’ll meet you by the front door, when you’re ready.”  He washed his hands, took his medkit, and left me there in the lady’s room.</p><p>I didn’t bother holding my shirt up after he left.  It’d get too tiring to do that for even a few minutes.  I just looked at myself in the mirror and thought about what he’d told me.</p><p>When it comes to the different metatypes I’d noticed a few things when it came to mixed relationships.  When it came to humans (like me) and elves (like Lucius), humans tended to get horny at the thought of sex with an elf.  Elves were the more attractive of the whole fucked up bunch, and it seemed that any human that had an elfin lover found themselves to be super fucking lucky.</p><p>But elves didn’t seem to feel the same way on their end of that relationship.  There weren’t any elfin girl’s bedrooms plastered with posters or AR of human teen idols.  The elfin guys didn’t look at nudes of human girls.  In general humans were a step or five beneath them in the looks department.</p><p>And half the time they were right.</p><p>But Lucius seemed sincere when he said I was attractive.  Then again, he was comparing me to other humans in what he said.</p><p>Being attractive was something I’d felt I was for… well, forever.  I had an oval face that wasn’t too squished or broad, a perky-ish button nose, and blue eyes I’d been told you could go swimming in.  My hair was straight and just “blond” in color; no fancy words like “honey blond” or the like for me.  I kept it short, too, in a bob style (yuck, ugly name) and just off my shoulders towards the back and just enough bounce to not look limp like some old and sweaty bag lady.  I had an athlete’s build, not too much in the hips and not a really big chest either.  Certainly nothing like Allison who had breasts like big pillows I wouldn’t mind smothering my face in…</p><p>Uh, yeah, none of that now.</p><p>But Lucius wasn’t entirely right either when he figured guys weren’t my thing.  Now I might not be too open about my… sexual preferences, but I’m not a lesbian.  I do like other girls, but the thing is I do find myself attracted to a guy sometimes.  Doesn’t happen often, though.  And no, it’s not the kind of guy that old rock song’s about.  You know, the one that goes “<em>Na-hah, Na-hah, Dude looks like a lady!</em>”  Maybe I’m just super particular about the men I find attractive.</p><p>A few minutes after a bit of self introspection and I came out of the bathroom.  I realized I had no idea how much longer this job might last, so I hit up the snacks aisle and grabbed a tube of sour cream and onion flavored chips before hitting up the coolers to get a half liter bottle of some fruit punch flavored energy drink.  I was halfway to the door to meet up with Lucius when a kid in a Stuffer Shack apron got in my way.  He was a little taller than me, but judging by his greasy skin, hair, and acne he was probably a few years younger than me.</p><p>“I’m just gonna tell you this once,” he said, trying to sound menacing with his slightly squeaky voice, “but no fucking in the bathrooms.”</p><p>Wow, he really looked pissed.  Maybe he’d be happier if he thought he actually got in on the action?  He was also so close to me that I could smell his bad breath.</p><p>And right now I wasn’t in the mood for this.  “Get some mouthwash.” I told him, just before I slammed a knee in his crotch, and tweakered my right hip again just the wrong way to give me a new spike of pain.  I took a step back as he dropped to his knees, holding the remains of his balls with both hands and letting loose a soft and high pitched cry of pain.  I walked around him, unevenly as I started favoring my right side again just a little, my boots clunking on the linoleum floor as I made my way to the door.  Lucius held it open for me as I walked out.</p><p>I had just gotten the door closed when Lucius finally asked, “What was that all about?”</p><p>“Little puke thought we were fucking in the lady’s room.”</p><p>“Ah, okay.” Lucius said, nodding in understanding as he started up his car.  “Think he’d have been upset if we let him in on the… ‘action?’”</p><p>I gave him a look, and when he glanced over to me for a moment he just smirked.  I couldn’t hide my grin when I looked back to the dark and rain clouded road ahead of us.  We both started laughing as he pulled out of the parking lot.</p><p>My aches and pains were starting to fade away by the time we got back to Marcel’s.  Unfortunately Roland had not quite figured out where Belenkiy was by tracking down the chip in his leg.  I reclined my seat and tried to get a bit more comfortable.  Guess I had dozed off or something because the next thing I know Lucius is nudging my shoulder.</p><p>“Wake up, Little Lady.” he said, “We’re here.”</p><p>Groaning, I reset my seat so it was upright.  When I looked around I noticed it had stopped raining, which was good, and we were parked in front of a rather rundown looking building.  I saw one working street light that barely illuminated the front door to a business lobby in the center of the building, which had one of those big windows so you could see in.  The place looked like a motel, with a mess of little windows filling the rest of the wall and going across the next two floors.</p><p>“What the fuck is this place?” I asked.</p><p>“Do-It-Yourself Storage and Lodging.” Lucius answered, “One part coffin motel, one part self storage, and five parts rundown.  Roland’s triangulating the chip’s location with a few drones right now, but he’s confident that Belenkiy’s here.  We’re almost done.”</p><p>“Good.” I said, “I could use a hot shower and a good night’s sleep.”</p><p>Lucius laughed.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Little Lady,” he began, “if you continue into this way of life you’re going to learn that a lot of shadowrunners don’t get a good night sleep or have regular work schedules.  Hell, the name’s from the first crews when they’d be working pretty much always at night.”</p><p>“Must be hard, then.  Sleeping through the day when the world’s alive.”</p><p>“Oh, the world’s hardly dead at night.  There’s a whole other culture, another life, and it comes out after the sun goes down.”</p><p>Both of our commlinks went off; Lucius’s with that same metal riff and mine with its usual chiming.  It was another TalkTime invite, so I went ahead and mentally clicked on [Accept].</p><p>“<em>Right, I found him.</em>” Roland told us.  A new ARO opened up in front of me from the TalkTime chat.  It was a 3D wireframe rendering of the building we were parked in front of.  A red dot appeared behind the fourth window from the left on the third floor.  “<em>He’s in that room.</em>”</p><p>“<em>Are you watching it?</em>” Lucius asked.</p><p>“<em>Of course.</em>” Roland said, and a new window appeared, a live trideo feed right from the windowsill.  “<em>I’ve got a fly-spy parked up there right now.  Been trying to figure out how to see in, but they’ve kept the curtain drawn and the window closed.  I’ve been able to pick up some audio, though.  Nice cheap glass isn’t exactly sound proofed.  I’ve picked up three different female voices since it’s been there.</em>”</p><p>“<em>The Black Cats.</em>” Brick said.</p><p>“<em>Most likely.</em>” Lucius said.  “<em>Sounds like only two are in there now.  One of them’s probably on watch somewhere.  Could make sneaking up on them difficult.</em>”</p><p>“<em>The stairs.</em>” Brick said.</p><p>“<em>Sounds like that’d be a good place.</em>” affirmed Lucius.</p><p>“<em>If I could get a bug inside I might be able to find the fourth Cat.</em>” Roland said.</p><p>“<em>Probably not happening unless we go in.</em>” Lucius said.</p><p>“<em>Yeah, no good ways in and we don’t have the time for me to navigate a bug through the cracks.</em>”</p><p>“<em>So we’re just going in?</em>” I asked.</p><p>“<em>We go in, they go out the window.</em>” Brick said.</p><p>I looked at the ARO rendering, then at the building itself.  “<em>Three stories?</em>” I asked.</p><p>“<em>What I’d do.</em>”</p><p>“<em>What about astral recon?</em>” Lucius asked.</p><p>“<em>Mostly inconclusive.</em>” Recon said, “<em>Best we got is that at least one of the Black Cats is awakened.</em>”</p><p>“Would’ve been nice to know that sooner.” I muttered aloud.</p><p>Lucius simply flapped a hand at me.  “<em>And I take it that means no spirits?</em>”</p><p>“<em>You know Risa.</em>” Roland said.</p><p>“<em>But I don’t.</em>” I told them.</p><p>“<em>Besides not saying much?  She’d tell us how many spirits of what kind if there were any.  If none of the Cats were awakened she wouldn’t’ve said that much.</em>” Roland told me.</p><p>“<em>Have you worked out any kind of game plan?</em>” asked Lucius.</p><p>“<em>There’s no other entrance or exit, and unless there’s more than one set of stairs to go up and down there’s really only two ways out.  Through us or out the window.</em>” Roland said.</p><p>“<em>Guys go in.  Girls stay out.</em>” Brick bluntly said.</p><p>“<em>What?!</em>” I cried out.  “<em>You have any idea how…</em>”</p><p>Lucius held up a hand for me to shut up.</p><p>“<em>No, I will not shut up…</em>”</p><p>“<em>Mute her.</em>” Lucius said.</p><p>And with that I couldn’t say a thing into the chat program.  I flipped off Lucius.</p><p>“<em>Now, before the Little Lady gets any more riled up and tries to rip one of my arms off, maybe we can get an explanation.</em>” Lucius said.</p><p>“<em>The three of us go in and either deal with the Black Cats, or we flush them out.</em>” Roland said.  “<em>If they decide to buzz turbo it’s gonna be out a window.  Brick’s too much of a roadblock to try and get past, and if they’re smart they’ll see it.</em>”</p><p>“<em>Backup outside.</em>” Brick said, “<em>Catch the rabbit.</em>”</p><p>“<em>And on top of that Risa can conjure up a spirit, so it won’t be just the two of them.  And it’s got nothing to do with them being girls, but their magic.</em>”</p><p>I just glared at Lucius.</p><p>“<em>Hopefully an adept and a magician will be enough.</em>” Lucius said, “<em>Go ahead and unmute her.</em>”</p><p>I waited a bit before saying, “<em>Fine, I’ll do it.  But I don’t have to like it.</em>”</p><p>Roland chuckled.  “<em>No one’s sayin’ ya gotta like it.</em>”</p><p>“<em>Alright then, everyone out and ready in five.</em>” Lucius announced.  Roland closed the chat program.</p><p>“You ready for this?” he asked me.</p><p>“Yeah, I guess.”</p><p>“You better be.” he sternly said.  “I saw how you froze when those gangers were coming up on us last week.  What it boils down to are the three F’s.  Fight.  Flight.  Freeze.”</p><p>“I thought there were only two.” I said.</p><p>“Freeze doesn’t get talked about as much, but it’s the deadliest of the three.” Lucius told me, “Because when you freeze you don’t move, you don’t make decisions, and you can end up dead.”</p><p>Uh, yeah, I didn’t want that to happen.  I think I’m allergic to being killed.</p><p>“Just so you know, when the time comes, you’ve gotta pull that trigger.  If it’ll make you feel better, put on your helmet.”  He put his hand on my shoulder.  “It’ll work out.  C’mon.”</p><p>And with that he got out of the car.</p><p>Yeah, I grabbed my helmet before getting out.  Not sure how much good it’d do.</p><p>I sat on the hood of Lucius’s car while I watched the guys walk in.  I did kinda wonder how legit what Lucius had said was, or maybe he really was a chauvinistic pig.  Anyway, the guys walked right on in like they owned the place while Risa hopped up on the hood to sit next to me.</p><p>To be honest I hoped that they’d be able to deal with the Black Cats.</p><p>Then I noticed something.  “Thought you were gonna call a spirit.” I said to Risa.</p><p>She didn’t look at me, but she did nod her head.  “Inside.”</p><p>“Fat good it does us out here.”</p><p>Her head perked up.  “Gunfire.” she said.</p><p>“Shit.” I cussed as I put my hand on my gun.  I looked up to that third floor window, but didn’t see anything.</p><p>At least I didn’t until I saw the window slide open.</p><p>“Mother fucker.” I cussed.  “Get that spirit out here.” I told Risa.</p><p>Now the guys didn’t really tell me what they expected me to do to deal with the Black Cats if they tried to run, so I guess I kinda decided to improvise a little.</p><p>And maybe show Lucius up a bit as well.</p><p>I sprinted straight for the building, putting myself just about directly underneath the open window.  I didn’t immediately start running up it.  It doesn’t quite work the same way as if I were some flatvid blue hedgehog.  Instead I crouched down and went for the highest high jump I could manage.  My talents gave me quite the boost and I actually cleared the first floor before I touched my foot to the wall.  Then I started running like I was taking the world’s steepest staircase three steps at a time.  I had to move fast, as fast as I could, as my power wouldn’t let me keep going on forever like that hedgehog can.  I made it so far up that I easily grabbed the windowsill, and I was going to haul myself in like I was clearing a low hurdle.</p><p>Just as I was coming up I saw someone coming fast to the window.  I didn’t even think about it as I slugged him/her with my other fist.  I cleared the sill, landed in a crouch and my body turned to the woman like I was ready to shoulder block her like I was some football lineperson.</p><p>Mother fucker, my fist was really hurting.</p><p>The woman I had clocked had been knocked back on her ass and was pushing herself up to a seated posture with her arms.  She was Amerindian, with obviously cybernetic eyes and her hair done up in a bun.  There was another woman behind her, shorter and stockier, with dark eyes and really super short cut hair.  If it wasn’t for her breasts I’d’ve mistaken her for a boy.</p><p>And from the looks on their faces I just surprised the shit out of them.</p><p>When we heard gunfire I had an “oh crap” moment.  I had two of them, but what the fuck was I supposed to do with them now?</p><p>The one I’d punched slowly regained her feet.  I stood up with her just as slowly.  Turned out she was a bit taller than me.</p><p>All of us perked our heads up when we heard gunfire.</p><p>The taller one said, “We’re leaving.  Don’t stop us.”</p><p>“Not with Belenkiy.” I said, trying to sound as authoritative as I could.</p><p>“Take him.”</p><p>“What about the ransom?  You’re gonna bail on that?” I asked.</p><p>The taller one’s head twitched back almost like I had punched her or something.  “Ransom?  What ransom?” she asked.</p><p>Well what the fuck?  Why go to all the trouble to kidnap a guy to ransom him back, then just dump him when the shit hadn’t even hit the fan yet?</p><p>But from the one’s reaction, she didn’t even know there was a ransom.  It really didn’t make sense.</p><p>But then I had a thought.  A what if…</p><p>I slowly stepped aside from the window.  It was kinda hard to do because the room wasn’t really all that big.</p><p>“Go.” I sharply told them.</p><p>I didn’t have to tell them twice.  The tall one bolted first and jumped out the window.  The other wasn’t too far behind when she jumped out too.  I really didn’t want to see if the bounced or made a splatter on the ground outside.</p><p>Then I remembered that there were four of those Black Cats ladies, and I really had no idea what the other two might do.</p><p>Well, time for another trick of mine.</p><p>Ask any spellcaster how they do magic, and depending on their view you’ll get a different answer.  Hermetics and the like are all about their formulas, and they’re worse than algebra teachers.  Shamans and wiccans are more about the flow of energy.  Wuxing has their <em>chi</em>.  Me, I just mentally gather up… something and do it.</p><p>When I heard stomping footsteps coming my way I hid behind the door, closed my eyes and focused my mind into the thought of disappearing.  I knew something had happened, somehow.  Like there was a bit of tingly static around me.</p><p>Don’t ask me to juggle or recite poetry while I’m doing this.  It takes a bit of willpower to keep a spell going.  It’s distracting.</p><p>Two more women came running into the room.  The first one was about as tall as Brick, slim and lithe.  “Go!  Go!” she yelled, and jumped out the window like the other two had.</p><p>The last one was shorter and had the same boyish haircut as the other short one, but she wasn’t quite as big.  She jumped a little differently, almost like she was going to do a cannonball into a pool.</p><p>Neither of them had even bothered to look at Belenkiy on the way by.</p><p>I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, thinking of my spell just washing away with that little breeze.  I could feel the power fading away.</p><p>Brick was the next person to enter the room.  He looked around and I think I saw something wild in his eyes.  I stood still until he turned to check behind the door and noticed me.</p><p>“Hi.” I softly said, weakly waving a hand.</p><p>“Where are they?” he asked.</p><p>“Out the window.” I told him, pointing to the open window.</p><p>Immediately he bolted to the window, but stopped.  He slammed a fist against the sill, and broke off a good chunk of it.  Gulp.</p><p>Lucius was next inside, though not quite in as big a rush.  He looked around, spotted Belenkiy, then me when he turned back around.  “What happened to the Black Cats?” he asked.</p><p>“I… uh… let them go.” I softly said.</p><p>“You let them go!?” cried Roland.</p><p>Lucius held up a hand, but kept his eyes on me.  “I hope you’ve got a good reason for doing that.” he said with a hard voice.</p><p>“Uh…  They didn’t know… about the ransom.”</p><p>I heard Roland growl, but Lucius seemed implacable.  “Maybe you should start from the beginning.”</p><p>“Risa had a spirit follow you guys in and when it told her you were in a gunfight we saw their room window open, so I ran up the wall to try and stop them from escaping with Belenkiy.  I…”</p><p>“You ran up the wall?” Roland asked.</p><p>“Yes.  Now I caught…”</p><p>“You ran ten meters straight up?”</p><p>“Yes!”</p><p>“Keep quiet, Roland.” ordered Lucius.</p><p>“As I was trying to say, I came through the window just as they were gonna leave and punched her, knocked her right on her ass, but then she said that they were just leaving, and when I asked about them skipping out on the ransom she looked completely confused.  Honest to ghost she asked me, ‘Ransom?  What ransom?’”</p><p>“What ransom?” mimicked Roland.</p><p>“Shut up.” Lucius barked at Roland.  Then to me, in a more even tone asked, “So you figured that even though they kidnapped Belenkiy they had nothing to do with the ransom demand.”</p><p>“Uh, yeah.”</p><p>“You believing her?” asked Roland.  “She just cost us each a grand!”</p><p>“Time.” Brick said.</p><p>“Damn, right.” Lucius said, looking away from me.  “Brick, you take Belenkiy.  We’ll put him in my car and get him back to the Ranch.”</p><p>“Oh shit!” I cussed, realizing that Risa had been outside when the Black Cats had buzzed out.  So I ran out the window, same as them.</p><p>Now I don’t know how the women had done it, bailing out a third story window, but I knew what my trick was for getting down without making a grease mark on the ground outside.  I was gathering up a bit of power by the time I was out the window, envisioning a kind of anti-gravity field around me to slow my fall.  I had to do a front flip to get my feet down to land right, which might not’ve been the best way as I did that super hero crouch landing.  But I didn’t land as hard as I could have if I didn’t have that spell to slow me down.  I also didn’t land hard enough to make a crater like some super heroes do.</p><p>Yeah, I could’ve used it to practically fly up to the window.</p><p>When I stood back up and looked around I didn’t see Risa anywhere.  When I looked back towards Lucius’s car, there she was.  I rushed over to her, and she just stood there like nothing was wrong.  “Glad you’re okay.” I said.  “Where’d they go?”</p><p>Risa pointed over to the far side of the parking lot.  “They’re gone.” she said.</p><p>“Okay, that’s fine.” I told her.  She gave me a thumbs up.</p><p>Thankfully we didn’t have to wait too long for the guys to get back out.  Brick had the unconscious Belenkiy over one shoulder like he was a sack of soybeans.  He and Lucius headed straight over to the car, and I got the door for Brick so he could put the guy in the back seat.  He was surprisingly gentle, which I kinda didn’t expect from such a big ork.  I was riding with Lucius and Risa had joined the others in Roland’s van as we drove off.</p><p>“So, um, what was Roland talking about me costing us a grand?” I asked.</p><p>“Jaron said he’d pay us an extra grand if we found out who the blackmailer is.” Lucius told me.</p><p>Oh, fuck, right.  I forgot.</p><p>“So he probably thinks that the Black Cats were the blackmailers.” I reasoned.</p><p>“Yeah, seems that way.”</p><p>“What do you think?”</p><p>Lucius pondered this for a good while before answering.  “I think you’re right.”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“And it’s not just from what you said from your encounter with them.” he told me, “It’s also the fact that they didn’t even bother trying to take Belenkiy with them when they buzz turboed out of there.  They had their escape plan, and it didn’t include him, so they must’ve been ready for someone to come looking for him.”</p><p>“So if they really did know about the ransom they wouldn’t’ve just given up so easily.”</p><p>“Exactly.”</p><p>“Think Jaron will give us more time for that extra grand?”</p><p>“Depends on how much he wants that person’s ass.”  After a short pause he added, “Also depends if we can find any clues.  Otherwise we’re pretty much done with this job.”</p><p>We rode the rest of the way to the Ranch in silence.  At one point I started to wonder about Belenkiy, who looked like he was still unconscious.  I recalled that when you read a person’s aura you can get a whole lot of details, including any diseases, drugs, or whatever, including whether or not they’re also a technomancer.  I gave it a shot, but besides the obvious unconscious all I really got was that his body was worn out due to a lot of stress.</p><p>It was close to ten in the evening by the time we got back to the ranch.  Jaron and Hafiz were there to meet us out front, along with two other guys that had a stretcher.  They did all the work in taking Belenkiy out of the car and hauling him off.</p><p>“You have no idea how pleasant it is to see such punctual work from the younger generation.” Jaron said to us.  I honestly wasn’t quite sure how to take that.</p><p>“Yeah, thanks and all,” Roland said, “but there’s still the ransom…”</p><p>“Since you have nothing and with Belenkiy back there’s no need to think about it.” Jaron told us.</p><p>Lucius put on a plastic smile and said, “Actually, what he’s trying to say is that we’d like to continue working that angle.”</p><p>Jaron grunted.  “Fine, but I won’t give you long since it’s no longer of any real importance.  You have until his deadline.  If you haven’t found anything concrete by then the job’s done and you don’t get the bonus.”  And with that came a prompt about accepting six thousand nuyen from Jaron Falcone.  Of course I mentally clicked [Yes].</p><p>“Great.  Since we’ve got that covered can I get access to the records of the mornin’ hack?” Roland asked.</p><p>“Just what are you looking for?” Jaron asked.</p><p>“How he got in, his access ID, what he tried to take, and how he did it all.” Roland answered.  “Nothin’ ‘gainst your crew, but I might get a clue to his code.  Kinda like a fingerprint.”</p><p>“Very well.” Jaron conceded, “But no stealth programs.  You will be watched, and you’ll be given access to only that portion of the node.”</p><p>“Fine.” Roland replied, almost grumbling.</p><p>It’s one of those things that when you’re on the outside you haven’t a fucking clue what’s really going on.  I barely even know a little, and that’s mostly just how to use a commlink and other tech.  What Roland was doing was in a whole other world, parallel but separate from what I knew.  And about all I did know was that every single wireless device has a unique access identification number, something to help it tell itself and everything around it from everything else.  Kinda like a person’s DNA.</p><p>“Okay, I think I got it.” Roland finally said.  “Seemed really sloppy to me.”</p><p>“Spare me the critique.  All I require is who.  A name.” Jaron said.  “Remember, you have until nine o’clock.”  And with that Hafiz turned Jaron’s wheelchair around and pushed him to one of the ranch houses.</p><p>I leaned against Lucius’s car, trying to think.  I hadn’t a clue how we were gonna go from here.  Did Lucius or Roland know of anyone to ask?  I sure as hell didn’t.</p><p>“You tracing the ID?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Already runnin’, but I don’t think it’s gonna turn anything up.” Roland said, “If he’s smart he’s changed it, or his ‘link’s off.”</p><p>Wait, you can change an access ID?</p><p>“What about looking up Belenkiy?” Lucius asked, “Might give us an idea of which way to go if we know more about him.”</p><p>“Yeah, good idea.” Roland said, and right away his eyes started darting back and forth to AROs only he could see.</p><p>And while he was doing that I did a search on basic computers and access IDs.  I wanted to know how you could change an ID.</p><p>Our timing was pretty good.  I had just finished looking through my commlink’s settings, following the directions I had found when Roland spoke up.  “He’s a local Ares Executive, workin’ in the Hub.  Was the head of the department that designed their new flak jacket, getting it into production a month and a half early.”</p><p>“Sounds pretty impressive there.” commented Lucius.</p><p>“But what about that other dwarf?” I asked, “The one we talked to earlier about Belenkiy?”</p><p>“Can we go someplace warmer?” Brick asked.</p><p>“Yeah, would be a good idea.” Lucius said.  “There’s a Nacho Mama not too far south of here.”</p><p>So we piled up back in the vehicles and Lucius led the way to another fast food joint.  I left my helmet in his car as we all walked inside.  This late at night there were only three people working, all orks, and we practically had the dining room to ourselves.  Still we took up a booth in as secluded a corner as possible.  It smelled like there was no way to escape the smell of their “Mexican” spices.</p><p>Feeling like I’d had plenty to eat already all I got was a small Buzz Cola (basic cola; this place wasn’t up to speed with the rest and didn’t have a dispenser that had all the fruit flavors).  Everyone else had gotten small snacks.  And maybe it was because I was a girl that Risa had decided to sit next to me.  Part of me couldn’t blame her.</p><p>“Right, so back on Belenkiy.” Lucius said.</p><p>“All I’d gotten initially was that he hung out at Marcel’s a lot.” Roland said, “My contact said he knew a guy that knew Belenkiy well.  He’s the one that set up the meet.”</p><p>I watched as Risa lifted her mask away from her face just enough to slip a chip loaded with cheese product in to chew on.  “Is it just me, or isn’t it strange that an Ares Exec would be so chummy with… one of the family?” I asked.</p><p>“Little Lady’s got a point.” Lucius said, “Could be really suspicious if some corp wageslave found that out.”</p><p>I found I really don’t like it when my commlink goes off at exactly the same moment that a bunch of other people’s ‘links do too.  All five of ours did just that, and it was a cacophony of different ringtones.</p><p>“Better see who it is.” Lucius said, sounding more than a bit grumpy.</p><p>I’d mentally hit the [Accept] icon, but the call didn’t seem to connect until all of had done so.  I also noticed that Brick had pulled his out to manually thumb the screen to answer the call.</p><p>“Greetings old boy,” a voice said, sounding like he was talking through a long and fat tube, “we need to talk about how badly you’ve just been screwed by a man named Falcone.”</p><p>Okay, I seriously was trying to figure that out considering we delivered and he paid and all.  And just how the fuck did this weirdo find us all at once like this?</p><p>“Good,” the voice continued, “now that I have your attention, meet me in an hour.  Room 3141 of the Hub’s Avatar Assassin Guild Hall.  VR only.  The name’s Void, you’ll recognize me.”  And with that he hung up.</p><p>“Talk to me Roland.” Lucius said, looking at the dwarf.</p><p>“He was stealthin’ okay, but I got as far as an anonymizer in the Haven.  No good tryin’ to go further.” Roland said.</p><p>“What’s an… anonymizer?” I asked.</p><p>“Our friend Void ran his call from his ‘link through a proxy,” Roland said, “which sent us the call.  When I scanned the caller’s access ID and traced it I got the anonymizer’s instead of Void’s.  I’d have to break in to figure out what his real ID was.”</p><p>“And could he have used another… anonymizer?” I asked.</p><p>“As many as he could afford.” Roland confirmed.  “Waste of time tryin’ to hack ‘em.”</p><p>“So Void’s ID just now won’t match the hacker’s from the Ranch.” Lucius said, “Which means it very well could’ve been him.”</p><p>“But if that’s true, and we’ve figured it out, why bother with an anonymizer?” I asked.</p><p>“‘Cause he could be anywhere in Denver, if not the planet.” Roland answered.  “If he wasn’t using it I’d have a good idea where he was when he made that call.”</p><p>“Covering his ass so we don’t kick it for him.” I softly said.  When I looked at Roland he was smiling just a little, and tipped his head just a little to the right to tap his temple.</p><p>“Seems like the best course right now is to take this bait and show up.” Lucius said.  “Well, maybe most of us.” he amended.</p><p>I looked at the others, and was starting to wonder if it was my imagination that Brick was starting to look a little pale, maybe a little green.</p><p>“Last time Brick did a full dive he threw up when he came out of it.” Roland explained.</p><p>“If Void asks we’ll just say you stayed behind to watch our bodies.” Lucius said, “It’s alright.”</p><p>“And if he’s got a problem with that he can just suck it.” growled Roland.</p><p>Wow, these guys were tight.</p><p>“But not here.” Lucius said.  “Might be better in our vehicles.”</p><p>“I’ll help set up some extra security, too.” Roland added.</p><p>We all went back out to the rigs, and again I was lying back in the passenger seat of Lucius’s car.  Well, that’s where my body went, but my mind was completely gone elsewhere.</p><p>Virtual reality is just that, a fake world where anything’s possible.  While my actual commlink’s strapped to the upper part of my right arm (no pants pockets, remember?), the virtual world interior looked like some kind of office space from the clutter of albums and data files and shit I’d collected on it.  At one virtual wall was something that looked like a computer terminal that represented the browser feature of my ‘link’s software.  From there I looked up the node for the Assassin Guild Hall, which was an easy find, and hit the icon to transfer my icon there.</p><p>As for the icon of my virtual self I made it to look a lot like myself, only a bit taller, better hips, bigger boobs…  You know, prettier.  I was wearing a blue skintight bodysuit, with armored high heeled boots, armored plates on my thighs, a jet pack, armored plates on my shoulders, and armored gloves that reached almost to my elbows.  All that armored stuff was done in orange and sharp edges for contrast.</p><p>The Assassin Guild Hall looked like some Roman church from the crusades.  There was a lot of open space, tall halls, white marble columns holding up vaulted ceilings some fifty stories up and the like.  Despite the hour there were a lot of people online here.  Well, with the global connectivity of the modern matrix it was likely a lot of these users were from the other side of the planet.</p><p>Roland was the first one of us I spotted.  I wondered if he had a little guy syndrome or something, as part of his icon was made to look like his regular self, but piloting some troll sized robot.  He was in its chest, with his arms and legs at the controls that made the robot do the same thing.  The robot itself was big, heavy looking, and armored in rounded plates of silver.  Its head was big, blocky, and had a mismatched set of cameras instead of eyes that actually glowed in a multitude of colors.  There was even the heavy thunk-thunk of the robot’s footsteps as he walked, but the node’s rules prevented the white marble tiled floor from shaking or cracking.  When he saw me he frowned.</p><p>“Damn it.” he cussed.  “Looks like you won, Lucius.”</p><p>I saw where his gaze went to, turned, and saw Lucius walking up behind me.  He looked a lot as I guess I expected him to.  He was in an old styled black suit with white shirt and black tie, though he kept his original looks and build with only a change to his hair style.  Looked like he was going for that ancient James Bond look.</p><p>“Won?  Won what?” I asked.</p><p>“A bet.” Lucius said.  “Roland figured your icon would be a lot more… girlie.  I expected you to be more yourself, and you are.  Now we’ve just got to wait for Risa to find us and…”</p><p>The short description of the icon that came up to us was that of a clockwork ballerina, walking delicately on tiptoe.  Her joints were bronze spheres and her short skirt was made of overlapping bronze plates.  The rest of her… “skin” looked like stainless steel, shaped to give her a slim build and small breasts.  Her face was a single piece of metal (which meant nothing in VR) that was shaped expressionless, with two eyes that looked like glowing blue crystals, and bronze colored hair that was beaten from a single piece of metal that almost looked like a helmet.  There was even the soft ticking sound of clockwork mechanisms coming from her as she moved.</p><p>Now if you thought that was weird, I saw an anthropomorphic white rabbit wearing goggles, a black set of skirt, tights, blouse, and a red hooded cape go running by on all fours.</p><p>“So, how do we find this room?” I asked.</p><p>“They made that easy.” Roland said, walking over to a particularly open area of this big…  Cathedral?  Hall?  Anyway, a hexagonal stone pillar rose up from the floor for Roland, and a not quite hologram appeared.  “Alright, here it is.” he said.  “Everyone get yer asses over here so we can go in.”</p><p>I noticed a kind of ring carved into the floor around that pillar, just big enough for maybe six or seven people to stand in.  We all gathered around Roland’s icon, and the whole world washed away briefly in blue mist to be replaced with similar architecture.  But this time we were alone and this was clearly a much smaller room.  Big enough for a real giant to stand upright with ease.  There were even creature comforts in a multitude of chairs and a bar with large pitchers of variously colored liquids.  And when I mean variously colored I really mean it.  One was a liquid rainbow swirl of colors that didn’t mix with each other.</p><p>But we weren’t quite alone.  Over by a virtual window to a virtual outside world (some nature setting that made me think of some old European fairy tale, summer green rolling hills, mountains in the distance, you know) was a black hole.  It just floated there, dark, with a swirl of purple at the very center, and along the edges it was slowly eating away at the pixels and polys of the virtual world.  Well, it looked like it was slowly eating.</p><p>“I’m glad you came.” Void said, his voice still sounding like he was talking through a really long tube.  “Though I was expecting one more.”</p><p>“He’s outside, watching our bodies.” Lucius said, “Hope you understand, we can’t be too careful.”</p><p>“Of course, of course.” agreed Void.  “Which then I hope you will understand what I have for you.”</p><p>“You said something about getting screwed by Falcone.” I said, “So, how’s he gonna do it?”</p><p>Void chuckled, and with his voice filter it sounded especially creepy.  “Oh, I’ve got the scan,” he said, “but can you pay the price?”</p><p>I think I’d seen something like this in an episode of <em>Karl Kombatmage</em> and some other trids.  The payoff to a snitch for a bit of info.</p><p>“Maybe, but a veiled accusation isn’t exactly a threat.” Lucius said.</p><p>“Falcone is more dangerous than you know.  He already has a plan in motion in the event that you fail.”</p><p>Wait, what?  When we fail?  We didn’t fail.  We got the job done, successfully.  Maybe this guy’s not as clued in as he thinks he is.</p><p>“As long as he’s been in the biz he’s got to be dangerous, and smart.” Lucius countered, “Maybe if you tried telling us something we actually don’t know…”</p><p>“Ah, but you expect something for nothing.” Void said, “And I ask so little.  Five hundred nuyen from each of you, including your friend on the outside, is equitable.”</p><p>Um, yeah, right.  I didn’t feel like paying him any cred.  Maybe he was trying to be all mysterious with his icon and name, but he was starting to come off as some greasy used car salesman.  I already had to deal with that kind of guy when I bought my Rapier.</p><p>“Well then,” Lucuis said, turning away from Void to face the rest of us, “if you’re not even going to give us a sample we might as well leave.”</p><p>“Wait!” Void cried out, and his icon actually grew bigger when he did.  It settled back down to its regular size and he said, “Knight Errant will be there to arrest you.”</p><p>Um, okay, now that’s weird since the Sioux sector contracts their security to someone else.  Oh, wait, I almost forgot that Belenkiy works for Ares, so I guess it’d be them to make the arrest if they thought we kidnapped one of their citizens.</p><p>“Really?” Lucius asked, turning back around to face Void.  “And why’d they step out of their jurisdiction to do that?” he asked.    “Eagle Security Services has jurisdiction outside of Ares extraterritoriality so Knight would legally need to request an extradition for us.”</p><p>“Even if there’s evidence you kidnapped an Ares citizen?” Void asked.</p><p>“If someone from the UCAS gets kidnapped in Japan it’s not the CIA or Lone Star that arrests the kidnappers.” Lucius countered.</p><p>Roland scoffed.  “Let’s save the cred.  He ain’t got nothin’.”  In a shimmer of digital sparkles his icon vanished.</p><p>“I honestly think he’s right.” Lucius said, turning from Void.  His right hand reached out as if he were grabbing a doorknob, actually pantomiming the process of opening and walking through a door, and as the nonexistent door closed behind him he disappeared.</p><p>I watched as Risa’s clockwork ballerina started folding up on itself, growing progressively smaller each time.</p><p>For me, my log off was a little different.  With a swipe in mid air a floating console panel appeared.  It looked a lot like the one in the wall inside my commlink.  I accessed the logoff menu and chose the option to disconnect from VR.  The console disappeared just before my icon disappeared in a descending shower of blue-white sparkles that would gather at where my feet were before shooting up into infinity.</p><p>I was actually there just long enough to see the last folding of Risa’s icon, two little squares that neatly compacted into two dimensions to disappear entirely.</p><p>The thing I hate about returning to reality is the soreness I feel at having been lying still for so long.  It wasn’t too bad this time since it hadn’t been very long, but still I felt the need to roll my shoulders to loosen them up a bit.</p><p>“Thank you for not blurting out that we’d already returned Belenkiy.” Lucius said.</p><p>“I kinda figured he didn’t have all his chips when he said we were gonna fail.” I said.  “And you really got him with that legal mumbo jumbo.”</p><p>“Naw, he just bought the story.  It’d be easy enough for Knight to come marching over to arrest us for kidnapping one of their corporate citizens.”</p><p>Gulp.</p><p>His commlink started off with that metal riff again.  Roland was calling.  “What’d you find?” Lucius asked right away when he answered the call.</p><p>“Void’s a damned fool.” Roland said over the car’s stereo speakers.  “He might’ve been smart in using an anonymizer when he made the call, but I got a direct bead on him in the chat.  Dumbass chip head even forgot to change his ID from when he hacked the Ranch this morning.”</p><p>“Anything else?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“I sent the name and icon to a contact.  Waiting on him to get back…  Hang on.”  There was a good pause before Roland continued, “He’s a matrix troll and a nut job.”</p><p>“Peanut or walnut?” I asked.</p><p>Roland actually laughed.  “I vote lug nut.  Supposedly he’s the kind that’ll space out when you’re talking to him and you can’t get jack shit for his sources.  Guess it comes from runnin’ hot VR all the time.  Also used to run under a different name, but now he’s hangin’ out at Union Station all the time.”</p><p>Now I kinda understood Void just a little.  For us to be in VR our commlinks have a sim module, hardware that translates from wetware (our brains) to software (the matrix).  The legal versions filter the signal, muffle it, all so it doesn’t damage your brain.  But hackers are known to break that so they get it all loud and raw, and fry their brains while they’re at it.</p><p>“Sounds like we’ve got our ransomer.” Lucius said.</p><p>“Yeah, what I’m thinkin’.” agreed Roland.</p><p>“You’re the one that pushed this.  Make the call.”</p><p>“Dialin’ ‘im up now.” Roland said just before he hung up, and I could hear the big smile.</p><p>“Well, that worked out nicely after all.” Lucius said.</p><p>“Except for the why.” I said.</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“Yeah.  Why’d the Black Cats kidnap Belenkiy in the first place?  They didn’t do it for any ransom money, and I don’t think they really needed the practice.”</p><p>“That’s… a bit beyond what we were hired to do.” Lucius said, though he was nodding as he spoke.  Guess he did partly agree with me.  “I’m also kinda surprised you didn’t ask about who would’ve hired the Black Cats, since they weren’t in it for any ransom or blackmail.”</p><p>“Oh, that.” I said thoughtfully as I turned to look out the window.  “I thought it was like the trids.  You don’t give up your employer.”</p><p>“Usually.” Lucius said, “But there might be a time when circumstances practically demand it.  We’re not the cold hearted mercenary types that’ll take that to our graves no matter what.  And there are certain things some runners just won’t do no matter what.”</p><p>An ARO popped up, another money transfer from Jaron for one thousand nuyen to my account.  I went ahead and mentally clicked [Yes].</p><p>“And I guess that’s that.” Lucius said.</p><p>I glanced over to Roland’s van, and I saw Brick get out to walk around to the rear.  “Guess that’s my cue.” I said, opening the door to get out.</p><p>Just before I closed the door, my helmet in one hand, Lucius called out.  “Hey!  Just so you know, it’s been nice working with you.  Whatever the future holds, you’re welcome to work with us anytime.”</p><p>“Thanks.” I told him, not bothering to hide the smile.</p><p>“And also, if you ever need help with anything, give us a call.  Your ‘link should have the numbers.”</p><p>I just nodded as I closed the door.  I wasn’t quite sure what kind of help I’d need, other than hopefully finding a less dangerous job.</p><p>Brick was holding my motorcycle when I got over there.  I had my helmet on and was ready to go…  Except my bike wasn’t.  It took a few kicks to get it going again, and a few revs of the engine so it’d idle smoothly.  I took it easy as I drove off, but just as I was getting onto the main street to head south I hit the gas hard and popped a wheelie.</p><p>Like I said, it runs fine once it gets going.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yes, Hanako's name is written as 花子 in Japanese, meaning "Flower Child."</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Grab</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>There's often a line that shadowrunners won't ever cross, their reasons why are their own.  Maybe it's wetwork, or working for a particular corporation (or against?).</p><p>But sometimes you don't know what that line is, or where it is, until you've already crossed it.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Based on the mission written by Cliff Hensley:</p><p>Just north of the university is a wedge of green called Washington Park.  It’s got a bunch of tennis courts, two artificial lakes in dire need of filtering, a duck pond that could use a few water filters too, a botanical garden, and a nice meandering path to walk around it all.</p><p>But most importantly it’s also got a jogging course.  It’s three-point-six kilometers of pure jogging heaven.  It’s even made with a few gently rolling hill-like ramps to pass over the few streets that cut into or through the park so you can easily keep your pace up without too much worry about getting hit by someone who thinks they can drive.  A really great invention, self driving cars.</p><p>March was almost over, with April only a few days off, and the weather had a nice and sudden spike of hot to go with pretty blue skies and just enough of a breeze to keep the air from being stifling.</p><p>This was my first real time out jogging this course, and I was glad of the nice weather this weekend.  Treadmills are okay enough for winter and shitty weather, but when you’ve gotta put up with the rank body odor of the ork next to you it gets really bad really quick.  And as close to the university as it was meant that crime was relatively down and such.  No need for body armor or guns.</p><p>The day was beautiful as I made my third lap around the park, with new sneakers for running, tight shorts that reached down most of my thighs and a matching sports top (all in black), I was sure to be drawing a lot of leering looks from the guys I saw.  Hey, a lot of guys might have nothing more than sex on their mind, but that doesn’t mean I have to dress up like some fifteenth century nun.  Besides, I’d seen a few other women out jogging this course wearing just as scant and tight clothing as I was, so at least I wouldn’t be the only one leered at.</p><p>One of my favorite songs by Hexess (a technosynth soloist) got interrupted by an incoming call.  Like pretty much all of the other joggers my commlink was strapped to my left arm.  But with my earbuds, contacts, and trodes hidden in my hair all I had to do was mentally click [Accept] on the ARO that had popped up, and slow down so I could talk without sounding like some sex crazed pervert.</p><p>The ARO popped open to show a live feed from a rather attractive Asian woman, porcelain skin and silken black hair was loose, long, and just about blended in with the high set collar of her black leather jacket, which was otherwise open to show off the striking contrast of a rainbow of colors from her top.  This time around I had gotten prepared, and so while I was out running my ‘link would show my icon portrait rather than whatever the camera might be facing.  It was even able to mimic my mouth movements when I spoke, so it could actually look like I was really talking through my icon.  It wouldn’t fool anyone since the resolution quality would be quite obviously artificial, but it was better than a camera view that waved around like crazy with every move of my arm.</p><p>“I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.” she said, her voice sounding…  pleasing.  “My name is Ms. Johnson,”</p><p>Translation, Felix gave her my number.  This is going to be one of <em>those</em> jobs.  Again.</p><p>Maybe I should make that call…</p><p>“and I have some business I’d like to discuss.  Let’s meet for dinner, my treat.  Do you like rattlesnake?”</p><p>“Well, I don’t know.” I said, still breathing a little hard from my run and just looking around at nothing in particular.  Not at all unusual that I’d look like I’m talking to no one, either.  Most of the other joggers in the park had their ‘links strapped to their arm like me, and I’d noticed many with earbuds too.  “I can’t say I’ve ever had it.”</p><p>“You should give it a try.” Ms. Johnson told me.  “Stop on by at The Rattlesnake Grill.  It’s in the PCC sector, 2455 West Dartmouth Ave.  Be there at seven.”  The ARO closed itself.</p><p>I stood there to think about this for a bit.  Cash wise I was still sitting pretty good, though Felix still hadn’t found me anything less dangerous.  Well, there were jobs out there, but I honestly hadn’t gotten desperate enough to become a college dropout just to load VendingWear machines all day all week.  I mean, I had an interview a few days ago, but you really wanna work for a guy who practically tells you, “Nice ass.  Wanna fuck?”</p><p>And last I thought about it, no, I’m not becoming a prostitute.</p><p>I took a few hopping steps to get my rhythm back before I took off jogging again, mentally tagging my music player to change the playlist for a specific song, something more of an old school classic metal, and something really energetic, by a girl who went by the name RUBY.</p><p>There was still a lot of time before I had to go to the grill, so I ended up taking a few more laps around the park before I went back to the campus gym for a shower, changed into my regular clothes, and walked back to my dorm.  I spent a little time reading about The Rattlesnake Grill so I hoped to have an idea what to expect.</p><p>I managed some good time getting to the Grill, even with the border crossing it was about fifteen minutes to the hour when I got there.  Thankfully the sun was already hiding behind the Rockies for most of that trip.  As I was pulling in I noticed I was behind a familiar looking van.  They parked side by side, and I chose to park on the other side of Lucius’s car.</p><p>“Still having trouble finding regular work?” Lucius asked as he climbed out of his car.</p><p>I pulled off my helmet and tucked it under one arm before answering, “Not if I’m willing to let guys stick things in my body.”  And now I could really smell the grilled food from this restaurant.  Not quite Aztlaner in the spices, more southern Pueblo, and since it had been hours since I had lunch, and no dinner, I was really starting to feel hungry.</p><p>For a moment Lucius looked shocked.  Then he just chuckled.</p><p>Roland and Brick took their time walking up to the front door, but I ended up almost getting tackled by a little green blur.  Risa had practically snuck around on me, rushed up, and hugged me with such quick ferocity that she actually knocked my helmet out of my grip.</p><p>“Guess she’s really missed you.” commented an amused Lucius.</p><p>“Well…  It’s nice to see you too.” I told Risa.  Seemingly satisfied she chose then to loosen her grip around my chest.  I managed to pick up my helmet on our way inside, and Risa made sure my other arm had something to hold onto.</p><p>What a strange little girl.</p><p>As soon as we walked through the door an ARO popped open with a prompt about the menu (which I quickly closed).  Inside was busy, with packed tables all over the place and wait staff hustling and bustling like mad.  Ms. Johnson was back in a corner booth, and had seen us come in.  She seemed ready to hop out of the booth as she waved a hand at us to get our attention.  Navigating back there was a bit of a challenge until Risa figured she could follow close behind me rather than being attached at the hip (almost literally).</p><p>It was a big family booth that Ms. Johnson had, one of those that’s shaped like a ‘U’ and can seat an extended family.  She scooted more towards the center while I slid in one side.  There was enough room for me to put my helmet on the seat, and Risa took up the spot at my other side.  The guys all slid in on the other side.</p><p>“Thank you for coming.  I know it’s short notice, but I appreciate your punctuality.” Ms. Johnson told us.  “Shall we order?  I’m starving.”</p><p>“Me too.” I said as this time I prompted the restaurant’s network for a menu ARO.  I noticed that Ms. Johnson, like Brick, looked at her commlink to order while the rest of us just did everything by thought.  I ordered a rattlesnake strip dinner, small chef salad, and a large chocolate shake.</p><p>Once we were all done Ms. Johnson said, “How about we get this business out of the way so we can enjoy our meals?”</p><p>I certainly agreed with that.</p><p>“I need a team of professionals for a fairly routine extraction.  The work pays thirty-five thousand nuyen, and you can divide that up however you prefer.  I can give you ten percent up front as a retainer, and to help out with your expenses.  Are you in or out?”</p><p>“Extraction?” I asked.  I thought it sounded familiar.</p><p>“The dirty word is ‘kidnapping.’” Lucius said in a hushed tone.  “The person or persons might be willing, or they might not be.”</p><p>“And which is this?” I asked.</p><p>Ms. Johnson gave me a look.  Uh oh, fucked up somewhere.</p><p>“Unless any of us are really strapped for cash right now…” Lucius said, looking at the rest of us.  When no one spoke up he continued, “I think you can hang onto that retainer for now.”  He looked around again and asked, “Are any of us out?”</p><p>I ran the numbers in my head, and came up with seven thousand if we did an even split.  I was more than good for rent money, but without regular work I would need to save up for next semester’s tuition.</p><p>I didn’t exactly decline the job, though I wasn't feeling too sure about this one.</p><p>Ms. Johnson reached into her jacket and pulled out a hardcopy photograph that she slipped onto the table for all of us to see.  “This is the most recent photograph I have of the target.” she said, “Her name is Catherine Westmore.  Within three days time I need you to get the girl and deliver her, unharmed, to a second team who will be awaiting your arrival at a safehouse.  If she is hurt in anyway, and I mean any way at all, you get nothing.”</p><p>Holy fucking shit.  Maybe we should’ve gone for that retainer after all.  Kidnap someone without hurting them at all?</p><p>Lucius pushed the pic over to me after the guys had each gotten a look.  I tried to be discrete about slipping the pic closer, twisting it upright so I could see who it was.  I felt my stomach sink down into my feet.</p><p>The pic was of a little girl, Asian, with hair that was silky straight and pure black like a lot of Japanese girls I’d seen, like Ms. Johnsons or my friend Hanako.  Her eyes had that classic amygdaline shape but were very obviously cybernetic replacements.  The pic must’ve also been taken from a school record someplace as she was wearing a uniform.  And from the pic alone I guessed she was probably ten to twelve years old.  She even had braces.</p><p>Fuck.  Kidnapping a real kid?  Shit like this never happened to Karl Kombatmage from what I’d seen.</p><p>“So,” continued Ms. Johnson, “once you’ve turned her over to the second team’s care, I’ll transfer your pay to you.  How does that sound?”</p><p>I wanted to scream at Ms. Johnson, to curse her out for wanting us, anyone, to kidnap a little girl.  Or any child for that matter.</p><p>But that sick feeling in my stomach helped me keep my mouth shut on the threat of throwing up in front of everyone.  Then there was also Risa just beside me, who could’ve been just as old even though she was doing this kind of work.  Besides her hands and maybe a bit of her chin I haven’t seen what she looks like at all.  She could be a really tiny woman in her sixties for all I knew!</p><p>When our dinner came I ate in silence.  Hell, I barely noticed the heat of the shri-rancha sauce that came with my snakestrips (which were otherwise delicious, when I actually noticed the taste).  When I heard some kids yelling for whatever reason they knew, I barely looked over to them, their family, and again felt a little nauseous about this job.</p><p>Okay, I was pretty much committed to this job.  Fuck, no one said I had to like it, okay?</p><p>Ms. Johnson had also apparently arranged for desert.  I didn’t catch what they were called but they were some kind of deep fried turnover that had been doused with cinnamon and filled like an apple pie.  It was kinda good.  Probably would’ve tasted better if I wasn’t still mulling over this job.</p><p>Once we were done eating we headed for the door, all five of us and Ms. Johnson.  Maybe I was already getting jaded or something because I thought that this looked really good to pass as a bunch of friends getting together for a Saturday night dinner.</p><p>Outside had really gotten chill and dark.</p><p>I was still holding my helmet in one hand when Ms. Johnson said, “This is where we part ways.”  I turned to look at her, seeing her dig out her car keys from a pants pocket (she was a bit shorter than me, and damn she was really pretty), gave us one more look and added, “Good luck.  I’ll catch you later.”</p><p>“Catch?” a man’s voice chimed in.  I turned to look at the asshole to see a group of men walking up to us.  None of them looked happy, either.  Maybe they needed a good fucking, or a circle jerk?  They were all wearing black jackets with a blue and gold bandanna tied around their left arm.  I think it was a gang sign, but I hadn’t a clue whose.</p><p>“The only thing you’re catching,” the same guy continued to say, “Lady Jade, is a one way ticket.  Straight to Hell!”</p><p>Oh fuck.</p><p>Brick let loose a roar and charged them.  He went straight for the guy that was talking and slugged him so hard with his bare fist that the man’s head whipped around so hard I thought the ork had broken it off!  He crumpled like an empty pop can.</p><p>That was when all hell broke loose.  Lucius had rushed up to one of the others and they started some flurry of martial arts moves I couldn’t quite keep track of.  There was a bunch of gunfire, some of the other guys went down, and I was so stunned that I barely drew my Colt to try and shoot one of them.  I don’t know which, but I think I hit him as my gun kicked and he went sprawling to the ground.</p><p>Brick didn’t stop there, wading into them like some berserker, roaring as he punched another so hard that he spun completely around before collapsing like a bag of soybeans.</p><p>Some of them had gotten knocked down.  Lucius had even dropped his opponent.  One of them yelled to run away, and those that could, fled.  One of them had a dark stain at his ass, running down the legs of his jeans.</p><p>And just like that it was over.  I just stood there, panting, my heart pounding like mad.  I could smell the gunpowder coming from my pistol.</p><p>I felt a hand on my shoulder.  I jumped and my gun went off.</p><p>“Whoa, easy there Little Lady.” I heard Lucius say.  He was just off to my right.  “They’re gone.  You can put that away now.”</p><p>I swallowed, and still breathing hard I just nodded at him.  I very carefully put my gun back in its holster on my hip.</p><p>“Thanks for the help.” Ms. Johnson, or Lady Jade, or whoever, said.  “You’ll get a little bonus for that when all this is done, I promise.”  She looked around before adding, “For now though, we need to move.”</p><p>“PuebSec’ll be here faster than fleas to a dead body.” Lucius said.</p><p>Shit.  Cops.  I didn’t really think.  I just grabbed my helmet and practically threw it on, jumped on my bike (it actually started right away), and took off.  I went down one street, turned up another, and before I knew it I had no fucking clue where I was or where the others were.</p><p>Off in the distance I heard sirens wailing.  At least they didn’t sound like they were coming towards me, so I slowed down to ride at a more… causal pace.  After several more minutes I pulled over to mentally access my ‘link and the map of Denver I bought months ago, when I first came to the university.  The GPS was able to home in on where I was.  Now I knew where I was, and that’s a good start.  Now I just had to figure out where everyone else was.</p><p>My commlink beeped when a text message came in.  When I saw the sender was a William Wood (which meant it was really from Lucius) I opened it up.</p><p>
  <strong>» Meet at the first crossing.</strong>
</p><p>Fuck, that’s really cryptic.  What the fuck does he mean by that?</p><p>Okay, maybe I’m not the brightest bulb in the bunch, but I’m no spymaster, I’ve not studied cryptology and that sort of stuff.  I’m not even a genius even though I got handed my high school diploma two semesters early, along with a swift kick in the ass out the door and onto the street.  Shit, I’m kinda surprised my parents didn’t help throw me across the border to get me out…</p><p>Oh fuck, now I feel stupid.</p><p>I looked up Sloan Lake on my map, and found that I could take Sheridan Boulevard straight there.  I kicked my bike into gear and took off.</p><p>It was much later by the time I got to the north end of the park.  Stop lights can be such pains in the ass when you’re trying to get somewhere.  Somehow I ended up there first, and had to wait ten minutes before I saw Lucius’s car pull into the parking lot.  Roland’s van was nowhere to be seen.</p><p>“Where’s everyone else?” I asked as I pulled my helmet off.</p><p>“We share a place.” Lucius told me as he walked over.  “Brick got pretty well hammered during the fight so they’re going back to let him take a power nap, Roland’s also gonna try a little research from there as well, and Risa also had something she was doing when we got called.”</p><p>“And where’s that leave us?” I asked.</p><p>“A little bit of other legwork, if you’re up for it.  And maybe other things that we might need to get for you.  If you like we can leave your bike at our place and we’ll go around.”</p><p>I felt a little unsure about that, leaving my bike at their place.  But then I had let Roland drive around with it in the back of his van, and nothing had happened to it, so maybe…  I guess.  “So, like what things?” I asked, skeptical.</p><p>“Well, maybe a cheaper commlink to run a fake ID for starters.” Lucius told me, “But depending on the kind of permits and whatnot you’ll need with it we’re looking at about eight grand at least for something that’ll last.”</p><p>Holy shit!  I thought those things ran like a few hundred nuyen, tops.</p><p>“Yeah, you gotta spend money to make money.  But if you don’t do any stupid shit it can last you a good while.  I’ve been on this one for a few months now.  We get it set right it’ll do more than just get you into bars.  It’ll protect your ass.”</p><p>“Great.  And just when I thought I was getting close to next semester’s tuition and rent.”</p><p>“We can talk about the ID later.  At least let’s get to work on this job.”</p><p>At least we could agree to that.  We crossed the border on Colfax and immediately turned south on the highway on the CAS side (it wasn’t an International Highway, go figure), and continued on until we reached the off ramp for South Broadway.  It was a long drive down to Hampden where we went left for a few blocks before turning left again.  I was starting to wonder if we were going around in circles when Lucius turned off to pull up to a workshop garage.  It had three massive vehicle doors and it looked like another floor above that.  The left hand door opened automatically for Lucius as he pulled up, and more than deep enough in for me to drive my bike in after him.</p><p>“This is where you live?” I asked as I pulled my helmet off.  Inside it almost smelled clean enough, though it still stank of metal, dust, grease, and rubber.</p><p>“Yeah, it’s a fixer-upper.” Lucius said, leaning against the side of his car.  “At least the neighborhood’s relaxed enough that no one comes nosing around.”</p><p>The place was pretty good sized.  It was more than deep enough to park two good sized vans end to end, as evident by Roland’s van taking up the right most spot close to the garage door.  A single staircase in the back went to the second floor.  To my left of those stairs were two sets of archways into other rooms, and way to the right was a lonely door.  There was also a lot of empty space and very little furniture.</p><p>“You can leave your bike and helmet here.” Lucius told me.  “Roland’s a bit protective of his toys so they’ll be safe here.”</p><p>I went ahead and left my Rapier in the space between the two vehicles and the helmet dangling from the handlebars.  We got back in his car and left the garage behind.  Lucius drove down Logan until it intersected with Hampden, and turned left once the traffic light turned green our way.  Part of Hampden Avenue had been the… demarcation line for the Aztlan sector ten years ago.  The big wall the Azzies had built was long gone, though in some places I could still see the scars of where it had been and the ground cleared away like at all the rest of the walls.  One really noticeable place where it didn’t look like there’d been a wall at all was a kilometer long stretch to our left that was nothing but golf course, one of the more successful CAS efforts at renewing the old Aztlan sector.</p><p>When we reached Colorado Boulevard Lucius turned left again.  After a few blocks he made a right and pulled us into the parking lot of a nice looking restaurant, the walls based in river rock about a meter tall, cream colored stucco the rest of the way up, and nice open windows to show off the dining area, and a slanted roof of those curved red clay tiles.  On the front door was the outline drawing of a feathered serpent, its body coiled somewhat in the shape of an ‘S’ just above the words “The Serpent’s Feather.”  Not a very imaginative name.</p><p>“You’ll want to leave your gun in the car.” Lucius told me.  “It’s supposed to be a family establishment.”</p><p>“You sure we’ll be safe?” I asked.</p><p>“We’re meeting someone who might have some info for us.  If he, she, or they decide to pull some stupid shit then we can fuck them over several different ways.  Hopefully none of them literally.  We could also tell people that the two of us were here for a date and got assaulted.”  With that last line he gave me a wink.  Maybe he was being serious.  I hoped not.</p><p>The easy thing about leaving my gun behind was that the holster was on a belt that really didn’t do much beyond keeping that gun at my hip.  So off it went, and right into the glove compartment.  I’ve also got two spare clips, which I went ahead and shoved in there with my gun.</p><p>Inside the place mostly looked like what you might expect for a family restaurant.  There were no tables, but there were a few half walls in the dining room to allow for many more booths.  From what must’ve been a multitude of speakers was an old song by Concrete Dreams, loud enough to clearly hear but not so loud that you’d have to yell just to hear yourself think.  Towards the back there was a bar and a mirrored wall with shelves of all sorts of alcohols.  The hostess, a Latino looking woman, showed us to a booth towards the back.  Fortunately it was a wide bench seat, and Lucius went in first and shoved himself into the corner.  I sat on the same side, but a bit more to the outside edge so he was out of my comfort zone.  He ordered something alcoholic while I asked for whatever cola they served.  Lucius also gave her a name, telling her we were expecting company shortly.</p><p>“I think you’re learning, Little Lady.” Lucius said, “At least this way when our contact comes he or she will know we’re expecting company.”</p><p>“Actually I was thinking more like I didn’t want the chance of sitting beside this person if they decided not to sit by you.” I told him.  “And what’s with this ‘Little Lady’ shit all the time?”</p><p>“Well, true, you’re not exactly little,” Lucius answered, “and you don’t really act like a lady in the classical sense.”  This made me scowl.  “But the real reason is to not use your actual name.” Lucius answered, “And why it’d be a good idea to get a fake ID.  And you should ghost your link, too.”</p><p>I grumbled something about ghosting him under my breath, but with a few mental clicks I had my ‘link in ghost mode.  The short easy of this meant that not just anybody could ping it to get my name and other information.  A lot of neighborhoods and areas were way higher on the security and you could get arrested for not having your ‘link in public mode where anyone could get the data.  I recall in history classes how some groups were all upset about this kind of “breach of privacy” but with the rise of all the social media decades ago it kinda became a moot point because a lot of people were just giving this info away anyway.</p><p>A waitress was soon at our table, carrying our drinks.  His looked like something you’d see in the Caribbean, a slushy that was a tropical blue in color with a little purple umbrella and either salt or sugar along the rim of the glass.  Mine looked like a mug of something brown with ice cubes in it.  Fuck, his drink looked a lot more appealing than mine.</p><p>Just after she left the hostess came back, escorting an attractive looking man with auburn hair and brown eyes.  He wore a more comfortable looking jacket with a gray shirt underneath and jeans.  If his ‘link wasn’t already ghosted I’d’ve seen his profile, but then I didn’t need that to recognize Dean ‘Pretty Boy’ Costello.</p><p>“Well, well, well.” Dean went as he slid into the empty bench.  “Didn’t think it’d be you two.”</p><p>“Yeah, on the flip side this time.” Lucius said, “Go ahead and order a drink.  It’s on me.”</p><p>“Glass of McDevitt Highlands, neat.” Dean told the hostess, who nodded her thanks and left us.</p><p>Dean then gave me a look over and added, “And so nice to add a pretty face to such a…”</p><p>Lucius coughed.  “Best leave it at that.” he cautioned.  “If she doesn’t like you <em>that way</em> she’s liable to jump the table to rip out your tongue.”</p><p>“Seriously?  This vision of…” Dean started to say.</p><p>“Viciousness.” interrupted Lucius.  “Last week a guy grabbed her ass.  Her response was to take him down to rip his arm off.”</p><p>“Hey, that’s a bit much.” I interjected, trying to sound very offended.  “I wasn’t trying to rip his arm off.” I added, speaking much more gently.</p><p>“Well, you said you would.”</p><p>“I’d’ve settled for dislocating his shoulder.” I said matter-of-factly, taking a sip of my cola.</p><p>Lucius chuckled.  “Well that you did manage to do.”</p><p>“Oof.” Dean went.</p><p>The same waitress came back with Dean’s drink, left it on the table for him, and was promptly on her way.  His glass was broad and squat, which kinda reminded me of Roland, and filled with a woody brown liquid.</p><p>“So, do I wanna know what happened?” Dean nervously asked.</p><p>“It took five of his friends to pull her off.” Lucius told him.  I just sat there, holding my mug with both hands, taking another sip.  I sure as hell wasn’t going to add that those five practically kicked the shit out of me.</p><p>“So, maybe we can get to business?” Lucius asked.  When Dean gave no complaint (and I kept my mouth shut), he continued, “We’ve got two things we’re looking to cover.  One is seeing if you can provide her with a fake ID.”</p><p>“Ah, new girl on the block’s stepping out.” Dean said appraisingly, giving me another one of those looks.  I glared back at him, which didn’t seem to do much good this time.</p><p>“And a SINner, too.” Lucius added, downing a bit of his drink, “Figured there’s some copy pasta or something that’d be helpful.”</p><p>Dean actually had a thoughtful look on his face, like he was more than just a pretty face.  “Yeah, that might help save some time when it comes to DNA and biometrics and the like.  Shouldn’t be a problem to add a few years, too.”</p><p>“Hey!”</p><p>“Hey!  Yourself.” Dean snapped back.  “You really come off as under aged, and I figured you’d like to be twenty-one so you can partake with the rest of us.”  To Lucius he said, “You’ve got no idea how many teenagers younger than you still want that fake ID to get into a bar or club just for the alcohol.”</p><p>Well, okay, I could give Dean that point.  It’s a good two and a half years before I’m legal that way, though I’ve heard that some countries aren’t so uptight about a legal drinking age.</p><p>“So a fake SIN, driver’s license, and as I recall something for small firearms and maybe add in a concealed carry permit.  Cut a little bundle deal on the overall cost…  Eight grand.”  Nice, though it’s exactly what Lucius had said earlier.</p><p>“Not much of a markup.  Sounds like a great deal.” Lucius said.  “Unless…”  He glanced over to me.</p><p>“Oh, fuck no!” I cried out, “Not even nude selfies.  No way!”</p><p>Dean held up his hands.  “Hey!  Wasn’t even gonna go there.”  He put his hands back down.  “Think of it as a first timer’s discount.  But don’t think something like this’ll be ready tomorrow.  It really isn’t as simple as a copy pasta.”  He took a good sip of his drink.</p><p>“Okay, what’s this ‘copy pasta’ thing?” I asked, much more calmly.</p><p>“Copy data, paste it into a new file?” Dean asked back.  “And as involved as SINs are, it’s not quite that simple.  I’ll save you the boredom of trade secrets and just tell you that it’s a very involved process requiring implanting data in multiple servers and networks across the country.  The joy about Denver is that it makes it easy to access four different countries at once.”  He added that last part with a cheesy grin.</p><p>“So, no new ID tonight or tomorrow.” I said.</p><p>“Might have it for you by Friday.” Dean told me.</p><p>“Okay, we’ll hold off on that for now.” Lucius said.  “So, our second order of business.” he said, pulling the pick that Ms. Johnson had showed us at dinner earlier.  He was rather discrete about sliding it to Dean.</p><p>And Dean was just as discrete at looking at the pic.  “Does business have a name?” he asked.</p><p>“Catherine Westmore.” Lucius said, soft yet purposeful, like only Dean could hear the words.  And me just by such close proximity to the guys.</p><p>“I sorta know the name.” Dean told us.  After a bit of thinking he said, “Yeah, Donna Westmore.  I can see a bit of resemblance in the face.”</p><p>“Anything you can tell us about her?” Lucius asked, tapping the pic in Dean’s fingers.</p><p>Dean looked again at the pic of the little girl.  He shook his head.  “Nothing more than an educated guess that she was born blind.” he told us.</p><p>“You seem to know about her mother.” I said.</p><p>“A bit by word of mouth.” Dean said, putting the pic face down on the table.  “Seen her a few times, I think, but we never talked.  A bit on the short side, medium length blond hair.  Heard she works at the Federated Boeing plant, placed somewhere well above the ground floor, if you get my scan.”</p><p>“Not too high up, though, I take.” Lucius said.</p><p>“No nosebleeds or vertigo, no.”</p><p>“What about other family?  Husband?  Parents?  Siblings?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Can only guess about the husband, and I don’t think there is one.” Dean said, taking another sip of his drink.  “She used to get in a lot of the hot clubs in the CAS and UCAS sectors real easy.”</p><p>“She knew someone to get on the short list, eh?”</p><p>“That’s the scan, up until a few weeks ago.  No idea what happened.”</p><p>I just listened, sipping my cola some.  I also wondered at what kind of woman would leave her child at home to go clubbing.  Maybe there was some custody dispute, and her father would be a better parent?  Hey, it could happen.</p><p>“Anything else about her you can think of?” Lucius asked.</p><p>Dean shook his head.  “Never met her, really.  Just what I got from seeing her and hearing the talk of some friends.  One guy I know was rather hard up when she just vanished from the club scene.  He dropped a c-note to a doorman to find that out.”  He downed the rest of his drink before scooting to the edge of the bench seat.  As he stood he said, “Enjoy the rest of your date.”  He turned and walked off before I could say something.  Took me a bit to realize that he’d just helped up our cover, or something.</p><p>“Well, now what?” I asked.</p><p>Lucius emptied most of his drink in a long swallow.  “Now we head back to our place to get some rest while Roland does some more research.” he said.  “I’ve already messaged him about the mother so he can try and track a few things down on that angle.  When he’s done we put our heads together and try to come up with something.”</p><p>We finished our drinks and Lucius paid the full bill.  It was a quiet and dark drive back to their workshop.  Despite the amount of caffeine I must’ve drunk I was starting to feel a bit tired.  Normally the time doesn’t show in my vision with the rest of the icons for my ‘link, but with a mental click I was able to prompt a clock icon to show.  It was after 10pm by the time we got there.  When Lucius parked his car inside neither of us got out right away.</p><p>“Looking a bit worn out now.” Lucius commented.</p><p>I sighed.  “Yeah, I guess.”</p><p>“Seriously, don’t get the wrong idea here,” Lucius told me, “but we’ve got a few couches.  You’re welcome to one to catch up on some sleep.  That is, unless mom and pop need you back before curfew.”</p><p>I glared at Lucius and flipped him off.  “I’ll take the couch.” I muttered as I opened the car door.</p><p>My brain must have turned to mush after that.  I could barely recall Lucius telling me that the door right close to the couch I crashed on led to a toilet I could use if I needed, and after being gone for a few minutes after that he was back with a few blankets for me.  I think I did take a piss at some point in the middle of the night.</p><p>I guess it was morning when I finally pushed myself upright.  Guess I was able to stretch out on that couch, but it didn’t feel all that comfortable for sleeping.</p><p>And I must’ve been really out of it because my bike had been moved deeper into the garage and there was a silver car parked where I had left my bike last night.  Shit, I never heard the door open and close.</p><p>Groaning as I stood I took another look around.  When Lucius said this was a fixer-upper he wasn’t kidding.  The walls inside were bare cinderblocks, the floor smoothed concrete, and I could see ventilation ductwork hanging from the ceiling, and there were about half a dozen simple fluorescent tube light… things hanging down from the ceiling, though these were switched off.  There were small windows lining the wall way above the garage doors, so some sunlight was filtering in through those.</p><p>I heard some voices, sounded like the others.  Just past the stairs to go up to the second level were a couple of open archways with cheap looking curtains for some kind of privacy.  There was light coming through one of them, and it sounded like the others were in the next room.  When I stood I found I was barefoot, and the concrete floor was damned cold.  Then I noticed my boots by the couch with my socks shoved in them, and my jacket was draped over the end near where my feet had been.  I left them and headed into the other room.</p><p>“Ah, there’s our sleeping beauty.” I heard Lucius say as I came into what looked like a combined kitchen and dining room.  He and Brick were sitting around a cheap looking plastic table that was surrounded by half a dozen mismatched chairs.  Lucius wore a simple white t-shirt and jeans while Brick only wore jeans.  To look at him was to see a big lump of hairy flesh ork, with next to little muscle tone or definition.  He wasn’t fat, just really big.  Bet he’d still be able to break me in half with one arm.</p><p>I flipped Lucius off for the sleeping beauty remark.</p><p>He laughed, unabashed.  Then he said, “There’s a soy processing unit over there,” he pointed deeper into the room, “and a microwave to heat up whatever’s in the fridge.  There’s drinks in the vending machine just to the right of it.”</p><p>Tiredly I trudged over to the vending machine Lucius was talking about.  It didn’t look anything like what’s at a Suffer Shack or any other kind of vending machine I’ve ever seen.  Then I noticed something, a strange little rectangular hole labeled “Coin Slot.”</p><p>“What the fuck?” I cussed, which brought out some laughter from Roland and Lucius.  I turned to glare at them.  “Who the fuck’s got hard currency?”</p><p>Lucius had broken out laughing again, but was able to compose himself after a bit.  When he’d managed to get down to a chuckle he said, “We just use it for a cooler.  Just push a button for what you want, you don’t need any money.”</p><p>“Could’ve said something sooner, shithead.” I muttered turning back to the machine to look at the buttons.  Big things about ten centimeters to a side, with LED screens behind them set to show different brand labels.  I hit the one marked for Buzz Cola, and the machine rumbled a little bit before a can came tumbling out.  At least it was a Buzz Cola.  I cracked it open and took a good long drink from it.  Then I trudged back over to the table and dropped my ass down into one of the empty chairs and slumped back a bit.  Fuck ‘lady like.’</p><p>“You really must’ve been tired.” Lucius said, sounding a bit more… normal?  “You slept for a good twelve hours.”</p><p>“I feel like I need more.” I said, downing another mouthful of soda.</p><p>Lucius shook his head.  “Better you get moving.” he said.</p><p>“Right, later.  So who’s here?”</p><p>“Pardon?”</p><p>“The silver clunker.”</p><p>“Silver clunk… Oh, that!”  Lucius’s eyes practically lit up when he realized what the hell I was talking about.  “It’s a loaner from someone I know.  Better for a stakeout than my car or Roland’s van.”</p><p>“Looks like a piece of shit.”</p><p>“And it looks like a third of all the cars out there.” Lucius added.</p><p>“You’ll blend in.” Brick added.</p><p>“This one of those ‘hide a leaf in a forest’ kind of things?”</p><p>Lucius grinned.  With a thick British accent he said, “By Jove I think she’s got it!”  I honestly felt like flipping him off again, but just gave him a sour look.  Made him laugh again.</p><p>“So, where’re we going for this stakeout?” I asked.</p><p>“Down to a little bit of suburbia to watch the Westmore condo.” Lucius told me, “Both Roland and I did drive bys earlier this morning to scope the place out.  Got a spot I think we can watch from for a while.”</p><p>“Guess this’s from Roland’s research?”” I asked.</p><p>“Among a few other things that’ll help us, yeah.” Lucius said.  I looked away from him to the wall.  The room had no windows at all, though I guess when the place was first built this wasn’t supposed to be a kitchen.</p><p>“Job’s still bothering you?” Lucius asked.</p><p>I sighed, closing my eyes.  “Yeah, I guess.” I admitted.</p><p>“It’s sometimes a hard part of this kind of life.” Lucius said, his tone gentle.  “Whenever you hear in the news about some kind of big name kidnapping it’s probably a shadowrunner team.  Those recording about technomancer vivisections here in Denver last August were acquired by shadowrunners.  Hell, some of those people could’ve been picked up by shadowrunenrs too.”</p><p>That made me shiver.  I set the half full can of soda on the table, now feeling sick to my stomach.</p><p>“There are some shadowrunners that don’t have much of a conscious beyond the pay of their job.  They’ll do whatever, however, and ask for as much nuyen as possible to do it.  There’s not even much difference between us and the Black Cats in this job.  They kidnapped an executive, we’re kidnapping a little girl.”</p><p>“That’s a pretty big fucking difference!” I snapped back.</p><p>“The point is the kidnapping part.” Lucius told me, putting his hands up.  “And you’ve agreed to it as much as the rest of us.  And before you even say it, no, there’s no figuring the ‘why’ of the matter.  We’re told the ‘who’ and it’s up to us to figure out the ‘how,’ ‘when,’ and ‘where.’”</p><p>“At least Ms. Johnson gives a shit.” Brick added.  “Another might hire people who’ll take her however they like.  Maybe even hurt her.”  When I looked to the big ork I could see he was concerned.  Maybe he didn’t hate this job quite as I did, but it looked like he did give a shit whether or not a little girl got hurt in the process.</p><p>“Worst case scenario,” Lucius continued, “odds are someone’s gonna take her, someone who could quite easily get her hurt or killed.  None of us want that to happen, but we’re still going to take her, somehow.”</p><p>“Nothing says I’ve gotta like it, right?” I asked.</p><p>The corners of Lucius lips curled up into a very slight smile.  “Nothing at all.” he told me.  “We pull this off we can use it as bragging rights, to show the others, ‘That’s how you do it, fuckers.’”</p><p>That actually got a bit of a smile out of me.</p><p>“And whatever the why,” Lucius started to say, but sighed.  “Hopefully things’ll work out in the end.”</p><p>They let me raid the fridge and SPU for something a little more substantial than a can of soda.  Lucius and Brick only nursed drinks, and I only saw Roland once when he came into the room to collect a few cans of soda.  Apparently Roland was working on a drone, trying to get a new camera to work properly if I understood things right.  He did say he hoped to have it working by the time we went to grab the girl.  After he left Lucius tried to reassure me that Roland’s gruff personality didn’t mean he didn’t give a shit about Catherine.  I hoped he was right.</p><p>After I was done with… brunch, and had a chance to use the toilet, Lucius and I took the silver wreck out to the Westmore place to stake it out.  It was almost noon by the time we got there.</p><p>Let me tell you, stakeouts are dull shit.  We had stopped for some snacks, but Lucius had advised against getting anything to drink.  He fronted the cred for a box of simple doughnuts and a few bags of chips.  I really wasn’t all that hungry so I didn’t touched them as I tried to watch the house.  Neither of us were concerned about being spotted, beyond the obvious car, as Lucius had the windows chrome tinted on the outside.</p><p>The neighborhood hadn’t been absolutely quiet, but it wasn’t exactly bustling with activity either.  Some little kids had gathered in front of a house down the street and were playing in the front yard.  The Westmore condo itself had that prefab vibe, blocky and done in black, white, and blending shades of gray.  Several more homes around us were similarly colored if not similarly shaped.  Even the windows were in on the scheme and were currently blacked out.</p><p>Around one in the afternoon Lucius asked, “Pretty boring, huh?”</p><p>“Yeah.” I replied, trying to stay awake.</p><p>“Kinda surprised you aren’t gabbing away or buried in your ‘link with matrix stuff.”</p><p>“We’re supposed to be watching a condo, right?”</p><p>“Being hyper alert for too long wears a person out, and we might miss something as a result.”</p><p>“Couldn’t chatting be too distracting too?” I asked.</p><p>“Touché.”  After a too brief pause Lucius did say, “I’d also think you’ve got questions about me or the others.”</p><p>“Maybe.” I admitted.</p><p>“Go ahead and ask.  Might as well get things out in the open.”</p><p>“Our first job you said you were a criminal.  What’d you do?” I asked, still looking out the window and not at Lucius.</p><p>I heard Lucius take a heavy breath before saying anything.  “There’s two charges, really.” he said, “First one was a woman claiming that I’d raped her and that she was pregnant.”</p><p>“Did you?”</p><p>“Not my thing.  I don’t get off on violence like those kinds of assholes do.  No, I didn’t rape her.  I did have sex with her, completely consensual and everything.  I do admit I might’ve gotten her pregnant.  All it takes is one time and we certainly did it a lot more than once.”</p><p>I chanced a look at him.  He was looking down at the steering wheel, or maybe nothing really in particular, and he had a bemused grin.  Maybe in hindsight it was kinda funny?</p><p>“A few days later another woman came forward with a kid, said it was mine and demanded I pay back child support and everything.  I’d never seen her before in my life, and constantly denied any relation to her or the kid.  But I’d already gotten locked up for the rape charge, so there wasn’t much more to be done.”</p><p>“Wow, sounds kinda fucked up.” I said.</p><p>Lucius laughed a little, something that kinda sounded creepy this time.  Maybe it was my choice of words, ‘fucked up,’ that made it a little amusing since it all involved fucking.  Then he sighed again, and continued with his story.</p><p>“A friend got word to me that this was all a setup.  Of course I’d requested a paternity test for the kid, DNA evidence to prove I was the father.  My assigned attorney said it had been filed and everything, but that it’d take time for the court order to go through.  My friend had a friend in the D.A.’s office, and passed it to me that no such request had been filed.”</p><p>A sour feeling clawed its way up into my stomach.  I could already guess where this was going.  Well, besides the fact that he was a registered criminal.</p><p>“I confronted my attorney about it, but he denied it, saying the paperwork had been filed.  I called him on it, told him I could tell he was lying, hiding something from me.  I’d managed to do a little research and found I could fire him and request another attorney.  That’s when he broke, and told me everything.  He confirmed what my friend had told me, that the two were conspiring against me and had worked out how to cut the attorneys in on the deal.  While I’m in jail the state would have to pay the child support, and they’d get an exorbitant amount as well, of which both attorneys would get a percentage back.  Even if I tried appealing the case they could just drag their feet along, drawing things out and leaving me to rot in prison.  If I survived I could get out just in time to then get levied a bill to pay the state back.”</p><p>“Even if both kids weren’t even your own?” I asked.</p><p>“Once the child support sentence was levied against me there’d be no going back, even if there was conclusive DNA evidence to prove I wasn’t the father of either kid.” he told me, looking back up to gaze out ahead of us.</p><p>“But they never got the chance.” he continued.  “A few stupid friends managed to get me a chance to escape.  Might’ve intimidated my attorney to help a little, too.  I got a fake SIN and left.”</p><p>“And why come to Denver?”</p><p>“Kinda an international crossroads.  I’m sure there’s some way they might’ve been able to trace me here, but then I got four Metalinks tied to my SIN and got them on four different smuggler flights going to each of the four different nations.  Pretty sure by the time the feds figured out all four were fake they decided I could be anywhere.”</p><p>“Any idea what happened after you left?” I asked.</p><p>“Not a clue.” he said wistfully.  “I don’t dare trying to contact any of my old friends, or even looking anything up online in case it’ll be traceable back to me somehow.”</p><p>“So why’d your… ex-girlfriend start this with the rape charge?”</p><p>“Things didn’t work out between us, and I broke it off.”  He chuckled a little, “Guess she really didn’t take it too well at all.”  Then he looked over at me and said, “So, Sonya Abrams, what’s your story?”</p><p>Guess it was now my turn to look wistfully out the window.  Well, fair is fair.</p><p>“After I turned eighteen my parents arranged an early graduation from high school, and when it was official practically kicked my ass out.” I told him.</p><p>“Kinda harsh for your parents to do.”</p><p>“Not when the kid’s an expressed disappointment to everything they believe in.” I countered, my voice hardening.</p><p>“So, what’d you do that they didn’t want you to do?”</p><p>“Had non-human friends, for starters.”</p><p>“That can’t be all of it.”</p><p>“Hardly.”  My turn to sigh heavily.  “Last week, when you said I wasn’t into guys and you were cool with that?  Well, you were wrong.  I am into guys, sorta.  I figure I’m just… finicky when it comes to guys.  My first boyfriend was Italian, human, dark haired and swarthy skin.  We got along great, but we were kids really.  I was eleven when we…”  Okay, now he doesn’t need to know where I was going there.  “When my parents found out and… arranged things.  Never saw him after that.</p><p>“Then there were my friends at school, none of which they approved of.  When they dragged me to some stuffy social functions to try and meet people they felt should be my friends, but I couldn’t stand them.  All stuck up and snobbish and such.  I was thirteen at my last one, when I punched an older boy and broke his jaw.”</p><p>Lucius whistled an approving tone.  “So what’d this Prince Charming say or do to get such a reward.”</p><p>I couldn’t help but chuckle, thinking back to what he had said.  “Funny, his last name was Prince.  And he said he’d take me up to his suite and fuck me over so well that I’d beg him to marry me.”</p><p>Lucius broke out laughing at that, and I let myself laugh some more too.</p><p>“But that’s when things really changed with my parents.  We became a lot more antagonistic while I was in high school.  During one of the anniversaries of the Night Of Rage I overheard them discussing how Vic The Quick was too much a trog lover for not having done more, that it was shame more tuskers didn’t die, or that the elves got their Tarislar instead of being shipped back to… Oregon where they could fuck their trees.”</p><p>“Pardon my saying, but they’re sounding like real Humanis piles of shit.” Lucius told me.</p><p>I waved off the insult.  “Humanis was too soft for them, I found out.  Oh, they paid them lip service, backed Brackhaven even though they didn’t trust him.  ‘Once an ork always an ork.’ my dad kept saying when he thought only my mom could hear.”</p><p>Yeah, funny that.  Kenneth Brackhaven, supposedly the only human born to goblinize and be “cured” and become human again.  If there really was a cure, which I didn’t believe, then why was he the only one?  Well, Lucius knew just as I did…</p><p>“And I’d heard the real Ken Brackhaven had died decades ago, that Governor Brackhaven’s really an adopted orphan.” Lucius said.</p><p>“My parents didn’t believe it.  Said it was media slander or something.” I told him, “But they did support his anti-meta views.</p><p>“But during high school things got really bad.  I did what I could to avoid them because otherwise we’d fight.  In a way I’m kinda glad they did what they did.  After I got settled in Denver I felt… relieved.  There was a whole lot of stress that just… it was just gone when I first went to bed.”</p><p>“And after you found out what life on your own was like?”</p><p>“A whole new batch of stress.” I answered with a chuckle.  “Really, though, I’ll take this over them any day.”</p><p>“This as in your life outside the shadows, or this as in our life in the shadows?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“I… I was thinking… not this.” I said.  I felt him put a hand on my shoulder, so I turned to look at him.</p><p>“It’s alright.” he told me.  I don’t think there really was anything more he needed to say.</p><p>Then something occurred to me, and I looked away from him.  “Why the fuck am I telling you all this shit in the first place?”</p><p>“We’re relative strangers.  We don’t really know each other very well, and some people will confide in a complete stranger because there are times that person is unbiased, and usually won’t ever be seen again.”</p><p>“That why some people dance like complete idiots in some clubs?” I asked, “Because whoever’s there seeing them make an ass of themselves won’t see them ever again?”</p><p>“Something like that.” Lucius said, “Though with some sites like MeFeed! that’s really difficult at times.”</p><p>We sat there in silence some more.  The playing kids went inside, and a few suburbanites drove down the street, and a whole lot of nothing happened.</p><p>“Heads up.” Lucius said as a black sedan came driving by.  Seemed like every other car in the neighborhood, and I was about to say something when it turned into the short little drive by the Westmore condo.  It was them.</p><p>Catherine was easy enough to spot, especially since I’d seen a pic of her.  If I had to guess she was about as big as Risa, which made me nervous about the little girl in green.  Catherine’s hair was just past shoulder length, and she wore a jacket and skirt of dark blue, and pulled out a duffle after her from the car’s back seat.</p><p>Now she wasn’t alone, either.  It wasn’t her mother that got out of the driver’s seat, but a big man that looked to be about as old as my dad.  He had white-blond hair that was cut really short like those military types do, and wore a black suit and sunglasses like he was some presidential secret service bodyguard.  Well, the way he looked around and all maybe he was the girl’s bodyguard.  And since we’d gotten a description of Catherine’s mother it was easy to tell the guy wasn’t her father.  He followed Catherine really closely as they both went inside.  This guy didn’t look Asian at all.</p><p>Now maybe an uncle, her mom’s brother, sure, that I could buy.  On the subject of my parents, there was a chance they’d like this guy.</p><p>“Well, well, well,” Lucius went, “looks like our girl’s got a bodyguard.  That’ll be a problem.”</p><p>“Yeah, he’s not gonna just let us walk on in and take her for a trip.”  When Lucius said nothing, when we still just sat there, I asked, “So what’re we gonna do?”</p><p>“We’re gonna wait here a little while longer, maybe until someone else goes in or out of their home, or until someone else drives by, and then we’re gonna leave.” Lucius told me, “Then we’re gonna let the others know about this and we’re gonna try and figure something out.”</p><p>At least we didn’t have to wait too long.  About another ten minutes and an orange mustang went by.  Lucius started up the car and we ended up following it for a short while before we left the neighborhood.  Oh, I’m no real car person.  I only knew it was a mustang by the big horse that’s plastered across the trunk.</p><p>We took a twisty roundabout way back to the garage.  After we had gotten back I went to the toilet before joining the others in the kitchen.  I raided the vending machine for a new can of cola.  And now that I was awake I noticed that there was also a stove and sink in the cabinets on the far wall, along with the microwave that Lucius had mentioned earlier.</p><p>“So, she’s got a caretaker.” Roland said as I sat down at the table with the others.  “How’d he look?”  He was wearing denim overalls and had a white t-shirt on.</p><p>“Like Delta Force and Secret Service had a bouncing baby marine.” Lucius answered.</p><p>“Big guy?” Brick asked.</p><p>“Human, but I couldn’t get a read on him.  If he’s not magic then you should be able to take him with ease.”</p><p>“But…  Friends?” Risa softly asked.  I honestly haven’t seen her wear anything else than her greenish clothes, hood, and mask.  She did have a can of cola, with a straw sticking out of it, and all of her I could see were her dark fingers as she held onto the can.</p><p>“She’s right.” Roland said, “This marine might have buddies.  Could get ugly.”</p><p>Lucius nodded.  “Might be a good idea to have more than one spirit ready for this one.” he said.</p><p>Risa nodded.  “I need… supplies.”</p><p>“We need more.” Brick said.</p><p>“More spirits?” Lucius asked.</p><p>Roland held up a hand, signaling to Brick that he shouldn’t talk.  “We’ve done some research, angling it towards anti-extraction tactics.  Hard part’s tryin’ t’ figure out just how far they’ve gone.  With as much as mom’s done for her, it could be a lot.”</p><p>“Can we follow the money?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“That gets a bit tricky.  First up she’s dropped so much nuyen to fix her eyes you could buy a new car.”</p><p>“What?” I asked, “A friend of mine had to get her cybereyes replaced, and before insurance covered it they were only gonna be five hundred nuyen.”</p><p>“I found that the kid spent a week in a vat.” Roland told us, “Her blindness was a genetic defect.  Treatment ran over fifteen grand just for that alone and it didn’t fix her eyes.”</p><p>Holy shit.  For that kind of cred I could buy two more of my Rapiers, or pay a chunk of my tuition for the next semester.</p><p>“And mom’s got her little princess a personal guard.” Lucius added.  “Maybe more if he’s got friends and/or favors to call in on.”</p><p>“Can we bust in?” Brick asked.</p><p>“Would be rather obvious, but possible.” Lucius said.  “We’ll want the condo’s floor plan, if it’s available.”</p><p>“Yeah, managed that a while after you left for the stakeout.” Roland said, “I also managed to get the location of her school.  Public job and we’re talking top notch.  Well, not quite really top notch.”</p><p>“How so?” Lucius cautiously asked.</p><p>“Well, they’re supposedly a really prestigious public school but their matrix security’s actually about par and their magical security’s nonexistent.”</p><p>Lucius looked to Risa, and by reflex so did I.  She simply shrugged before saying.  “I go.  No spirits there.  No barriers.”</p><p>“So that’ll give us an incredible edge if we hit the school.” Lucius said, “But then that also means we’ve got a few hundred kids and a few dozen teachers to contend with.”</p><p>“And security.” Lucius added.  “They contract out to Lone Star and there’s about a dozen Stars scheduled to be on duty during school hours, along with a pair of roto-drones.  But at least none of them Stars’re listed as awakened.”</p><p>“Better to hit home.” Brick said.  “Fewer people.”</p><p>“Risa, you know where the condo is?” Lucius asked.</p><p>Risa nodded.</p><p>“Do an astral recon, please.  We’ll need to know if they’ve got anything magical there.”</p><p>Pushing her soda aside Risa put her head down as if she were tired and going to take a nap right there.  Of course I knew that she was projecting herself to elsewhere, and whenever a magician does that their body is left looking like they’re taking a power nap.</p><p>“You know, I’m thinking we should save the hit on the condo.” Roland said.  “Plan B, in case things go sideways hitting the school.”</p><p>“You think hitting the school’s a good idea?” Lucius asked.  Brick simply shook his head.</p><p>“Not really, but if I were this bodyguard I’d keep the kid out of school if a hit on the home failed.” Roland reasoned.  “If we hit the school and fail there, he’d be more likely to turtle up at home.”</p><p>“And bring friends.” Brick added.</p><p>“True, he very well could.” agreed Roland, “But the point is we’d at least have that second chance.”</p><p>“Something we should take into consideration.” Lucius said.</p><p>I kinda realized something here, listening to them talk.  I guess I hadn’t really thought about who the leader would be, or if they really had a leader.  I guess Lucius was the guy ultimately in charge, taking advice from everyone else and weighing things.</p><p>It didn’t take Risa long to pop out, go over, and pop back in again.  “Anything?” Lucius asked as Risa pushed herself back upright.  She simply shook her head.</p><p>“Well then, I guess we’ve got a really big edge to exploit.” Lucius said, “Okay, so we’re going to try for the school first; condo’s plan B.  First step, locating Catherine.”</p><p>“I already got her class schedule.” Roland said, “And a composite map of the place.  Just a matter of when.”</p><p>“Alright.  Next, how to get her out of class?  A little shuck and jive might not work.”</p><p>“Shuck and jive?” I asked.</p><p>“Bullshit.”</p><p>“Ah.”</p><p>“Teachers’re gonna be really protective.” Brick said.</p><p>“So how’re we gonna get you in, Lucius?” Roland asked.  “You’re the silver tongued asshole here.”</p><p>Risa got out of her chair and quietly walked over to Lucius.  She touched his arm, and suddenly sitting there was a human Lone Star police officer!  Brick practically jumped out of his skin, and Roland fell over backwards in his chair.  Even I jumped up, kicking my chair back.</p><p>“Hey, what?” Lucius asked, “What’s up?”  It still sounded like him.</p><p>“You’re a fuckin’ cop, that’s what’s up.” Roland said, regaining his feet.</p><p>“I am?” he asked, looking down at himself now.  “Fuck, I am!”  He turned to Risa and asked, “You do this?”</p><p>Risa nodded as Lucius reverted back to normal.</p><p>“Well, alright, that can cover me.” Lucius said, “But I think I’ll want some backup.”</p><p>“Don’t them cops work in pairs?” Roland asked.</p><p>“I could always say my partner’s outside.” Lucius said.</p><p>“Car.” Brick said.</p><p>“Car?” Roland asked.</p><p>Lucius had a thoughtful look on his face.</p><p>Guess I had it figured out before them.  “What patrol officer doesn’t drive a patrol car while on duty?” I asked.  “If someone bothers to look out a window, we’re fucked.  But what if…”  I pondered a thought.</p><p>“Don’t keep us in suspense, Little Lady.” Lucius said.</p><p>I glared at him, but said, “Risa, can you make him look like a detective with Lone Star?”</p><p>She nodded, and again touched Lucius to work her magic.  Again he looked human, a little stockier, and wearing one of those long and tan colored dusters.  Risa even included a Lone Star badge in one of those flip thingies to ride on his chest.</p><p>“Hey, not bad.” Lucius said, but this time his voice had also changed.  “This might work.  But I still don’t want to go in alone.”</p><p>“I’ll go.” volunteered Brick.</p><p>Lucius shook his head.  “Would be better if Risa or Shay went in with me.” he said.  Kinda surprised me that he used my name instead of calling me a little lady again.</p><p>Roland grunted.  “Maybe Shay, but Risa will stand out like a sore thumb no matter what.”</p><p>“Risa, can you make her look like a detective too?” Lucius asked.</p><p>Risa walked over to me and touched my shoulder.  I could feel something, a light tingling washing over me.  When I looked at myself I saw something like a hologram or mirage, not quite there but trying to make me look different.</p><p>“Uh oh, we got a problem.” Roland said, “I can see right through it.”</p><p>“Me too.” added Brick.</p><p>Risa’s shoulders slumped, and the illusion went away.  Lucius was looking normal again too.  “Hard to do two.” she said.</p><p>“Can’t focus on one and cast a second.” Roland said.</p><p>I had an idea of what he was talking about.  I usually never worked more than one of the spells I knew at a time, and keeping my focus on it while doing something else sometimes became difficult.</p><p>But if Lucius wanted backup with him…</p><p>“Guess we’ll have to do a little shopping, if the Little Lady’s up to it.” Lucius said.</p><p>“Shopping?” I asked.</p><p>“Well, if we can’t quite get magic to make the look, then we’re going to have to make the look.” Lucius said.  “And I think I’ve got a new idea on how to get us in the school…”</p>
<hr/><p>Well, I guess he’d had the best idea.  Lucius was going to play the role of some butler, guardian, whatever, for Risa while acting like she was going to be enrolled at Holm Elementary, the school where Catherine went to.  They would find Catherine and extract her while the rest of us would be outside to do what we could to help cover their escape.  While we were out Roland would set it up in the school’s node that we were due to be there for introductions and a tour of the place.</p><p>But first that meant we had to do a little shopping.  Well, I would’ve said ‘They’ but I ended up getting dragged along with.  I rode along in the back seat of Lucius’s car with Risa.  He said he knew someone that could help get some clothes for Risa so she could look the part of an elementary school girl.  To be honest I did find this to be a bit interesting as I’ve only ever seen her dressed head to toe in baggy greenish clothes, hoodie, and face mask.  I could only guess at her skin color because she didn’t wear gloves but even that could’ve been faked with makeup.</p><p>Lucius’s friend worked at a clothing store close to the Hub, part of the old Aztlan sector that had gotten a lot of money to rebuild and all.  Her name was April.   She was an elf, slim, about my height, with long blond hair and teal colored eyes.  They seemed real chummy with each other.  She also seemed sweet enough when it came to Risa as they went towards the back to begin her fitting for something that might resemble a school uniform.</p><p>I looked around, and seeing no one was paying any particular attention to us I asked Lucius, “How long have you all been sharing a place?”  I pondered over a few shirts that were on a rack, mostly pastel colored things that’d probably look cuter on a girly girl than they would on me.</p><p>“Almost a month now.”</p><p>“And she wears the same clothes?”</p><p>“Pretty much.  She’s rather timid.”  I turned away from the rack of shirts and wandered over to a display of shoes to peruse them as he said, “I have seen her once without her mask and hood up.  But other than that…”</p><p>“Um, excuse me.” I heard April say.  When I turned to look at her I saw she was looking right at me.  “Your friend wants you to come back to the dressing room, please.”</p><p>“What’s this all about?” I muttered to myself as I followed April to the back, through a pair of loose hanging doors that were more for privacy than anything.</p><p>“I get a few customers like this,” April explained, “mostly girls that want their mothers, really.  I think she just wants you.”  We stopped at a particular dressing room and she opened the door for me, and I walked in.</p><p>It wasn’t exactly a huge room, but there was just enough room for two people at a time.  Risa was pressed up against one corner, standing on the bench that ran the length of the far wall.  Opposite of her was a full length mirror.  April did not follow me in.  Well great.</p><p>“So…” I started off, trying to figure out what to say, “Shit.” I grunted, “April seems nice enough, so what’s the problem?”</p><p>When Risa didn’t say anything, actually didn’t <em>do</em> anything, I decided to try opening my Third Eye to take a look at her, to try and get what she was feeling right now.  The color of the changing room walls faded to neutral gray, light disappeared, and Risa’s aura became visible to me.</p><p>Okay, now the hard part, I guess.  Imagine if you’ve got a bunch of differently colored strings, each one unique and representing a different emotion.  Take, oh, a dozen or so of those strings individually, shove them in your pocket one at a time, and about a month later pull out the tangled mess they’ll have become.  That was Risa, right here, right now.  A complete emotional wreck.</p><p>I closed off my Third Eye and sat down on the bench at the far side from Risa.  “Kinda scary?” I asked.</p><p>Saying nothing Risa slid down the wall to sit in her corner, hugging her legs to her chest.  She didn’t say anything.</p><p>“Is it something about how you look?” I asked, watching her.  “Can’t be because you’re a girl.  April’s a girl.  I’m a girl.”  Shit I felt stupid, saying the obvious like that.</p><p>Risa shook her head.  Hey, got a reaction this time.</p><p>Hang on, the mask.  I’ve had to take a psychology class at the university and I think the professor had mentioned something once about a new disorder.  Or was it an old one with a new name?  Shit, I can’t remember.  Well, I had an idea.</p><p>“The mask, your clothes, afraid of what someone will think if they see your face?” I asked.</p><p>Her head jerked up, turned straight to me.  If it wasn’t for her mask I could get an idea if she was surprised or mad.  I could try reading her aura again, but it’s kinda hard to have a conversation at the same time.  Sometimes when my Third Eye is open I’ll hear something that isn’t really there.  She regarded me for a bit, then turned away.  I was just starting to think I had it completely wrong, that it had to be something else, when she reached up with both hands, slipped them into her hood, and released her mask.  She didn’t pull it off or anything right away, and when she did she still held it so she was hiding her face from me.  I sat there, quietly, trying to not look judgmental or anxious as I tried mentally willing her to drop the mask.  No, I don’t know a spell to compel her to do that.</p><p>But she finally did.  Now unless she bathed in the color her skin was thoroughly the same dark olive as her hands.  Slowly she turned to regard me again as she pulled her hood back too.  Damn, she was really, <em>really</em> pretty.</p><p>She had an oval face, a button nose, and those exotic eyes you see on those from around the Middle East.  Her hair was really dark, and made me think of really dark roasted coffee, a little bit wavy, and looked like it was well past her shoulders in length.  Slowly she opened her eyes and turned them to look at me, and they were gray, like somewhere between silver and iron.</p><p>I tipped my head a little, trying to give her a gentle little smile.  “You’re very pretty.” I told her, speaking softly.  She looked away, looking more distressed than anything.  Though the changing room wasn’t huge I did have to scoot down the bench a little to get closer so I could put a hand on Risa’s shoulder.  She really tensed up, her eyes bugging out.  Honest to ghost I’d swear she was about ready to bolt out the door!</p><p>“Hey, it’s okay.” I tried telling her.  “Nothing wrong with being pretty.  And April here, she’s pretty too.”  Well, duh, but no need to tell Risa that being an elf also means being a cheat at being pretty.  “And it’s just us girls, so there’s nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about.”</p><p>Risa just looked at me, but she seemed to relax a little bit.  Go me, I guess.</p><p>“Think we can let her in?” I asked, trying to sound a little upbeat.</p><p>“You stay?” Risa asked me.</p><p>“Yeah, sure.” I told her.  Guess I could hang around a bit, especially if it made her a bit more comfortable.</p><p>April was just outside, and before bringing her back in I gave her a heads up about Risa being self conscious about how attractive she was.  April got the scan and when she came back in didn’t give any big reactions about Risa’s looks.  Maybe she was thinking she’d seen prettier than Risa, which I guess is possible.</p><p>Then the real work began.  Turned out Risa wasn’t wearing much to begin with beyond her green clothes.  Just a pair of greenish loafers and some shorts that looked like boxers for a boy.  Her hair was a lot longer than I had thought, finding that it just about reached her waist once we got her hoodie off.  Boy did we have our work cut out for us.</p><p>Okay, maybe a little perspective on Risa’s attractiveness.  She practically elfishly slim, with slight hips and a pretty slim waist and just a hint of a bosom, and if I had to guess her age I probably would’ve said ten.  Maybe eleven.  Aside from that she had a natural beauty that could make girls her age really jealous, make boys into blabbering idiots, and land grown men in a two meter concrete cube with Bubba The Love Troll for a roommate.  If she were an anime girl the guys would get that geyser nosebleed and pass out if they looked at her.  Maybe a few anime girls, too.</p><p>It was when I had gone out to grab a few of the essentials for Risa’s ensemble that Lucius came over to me.  “What’s going on?” he asked.</p><p>“Full scan or just the highlights?” I asked, grabbing a package of socks and shoving it under one arm.</p><p>“Um, highlights.”</p><p>“She’s super self conscious about her looks,” I told him, walking over to another display of clothing, “and we need to do a full work over.”</p><p>“And I thought she just needed like a skirt and jacket for this.”</p><p>I grabbed a packet of panties that looked like were about Risa’s size, and I think he got a little bit squeamish.  Funny how guys get that way, unless they’re pulling them down your legs.  “Nope, we gotta do a full ensemble.” I told him, turning to face him and waved the packet just about in his face, “So you better get comfy because we’re gonna be a while.”  I didn’t wait for his response as I turned and went back to the dressing rooms.</p><p>Now I’d given it to Lucius a little light to be honest.  It wasn’t exactly a full work over we had, we were building from the basement up.  Despite my assurances to Risa that it was just us girls, Risa was still as bashful as you could imagine.  And on top of that while underwear apparently hadn’t been a new concept to Risa, wearing panties was not only a foreign idea but completely incomprehensible.  Both April and I felt a little ridiculous showing her we wore something similar to what I had gotten (which wasn’t really all that fancy to begin with), and even after that it took some doing just getting that far.  Overall it took us over an hour to go from full body androgynous to elementary school girl with a pleated skirt and blazer that were both navy blue in color, along with black shoes and white socks, undershirt, and blouse to complete the ensemble.  April had also suggested we hit up a salon to complete the makeover, and from the somewhat tangled mess of her hair (which had been left uncombed and completely free range inside her hoodie) I agreed.</p><p>But before that we had a presentation to make for Lucius.</p><p>“Well now, she dresses up quite nicely.” Lucius said approvingly, giving her more than a single up and down.  I couldn’t tell if he was hiding his surprise or was just taking it all in stride.</p><p>“Okay, that’s enough.” I told him.  “You’re coming off as a pervert, ogling a girl like Risa.”</p><p>“Just making sure she’ll look the part.” he told me, “After all, she and I are going in to look for her.”</p><p>That was when Risa pressed up real tight to me.  “Whoa, hey!” I went, turning to look at her.  What I saw I could only best describe as terror.  “Hey, it’ll be alright.” I told her, “I’ll be right outside.”</p><p>“You come also.” Risa said.</p><p>“No way we can make her look like a school girl.” Lucius said.</p><p>“Bet you’d love to see me try that.” I said with a bit of a snarl.  “But he’s right.” I said to Risa, my voice a lot more gentle for her, “There’s no way I can look like a little girl.”  I got the feeling that Lucius was staring at me, and when I looked back at the elf I saw he was.  “Don’t you start getting ideas.” I warned him.</p><p>“We might be able to make something work.” Lucius said, “And to be honest another pair of eyes inside wouldn’t hurt.  But we’ll need to get you dressed for the part as well.”</p><p>I sighed, but when I looked at Risa she seemed to like the idea.  “Alright, but I’m not wearing a wig.”</p><p>So back in we went with April.  Risa was determined to stick by my side through this.  She watched wide eyed as I was less abashed in stripping with her and April present.  Things also went a lot faster and smoother, and in a lot less time I was looking somewhere between private school girl to office business woman.  I think it also helped that April had found a bra that made my average looking breasts look bigger.  Inside I was laughing at the idea of causing boys to get nosebleeds.</p><p>Lucius gave me a wolf whistle when I came out, wearing a black blazer and skirt that went down to my knees, black pantyhose, and black heels that added at least five centimeters to my height.  “And here I thought Risa was looking pretty all dressed up,”</p><p><em>Oh crap, just what she needs to hear</em>, I thought, feeling more grateful that I could remember how to walk in heels.  For a time I had been more inclined to wear skirts, dresses, and heels while my mother tried to groom me to be a “proper lady.”  That promptly came to an end once I started figuring out my own self identity.</p><p>“but here’s a real office beauty.” Lucius finished.</p><p>I let a devilish grin creep up on my face.  “I wonder how many of those prepubescent boys are gonna pop their first boner when they get a load of me.” I said, giving him a wink.  “But we’re not done yet.”  Okay, I don’t care what the guys think when they just look at me, but when they get <em>that look</em> (girls, I’m sure you know what I mean, even if you guys don’t) then they’re starting to step over the line.  Now if more could stop themselves at that instead of trying to dive headfirst into a brick wall with some stupid ass pickup line.</p><p>“Not yet?” Lucius asked.  He actually sounded shocked and disappointed at the same time.</p><p>“April suggested a salon we should go to.  Risa needs a makeover, and in case you haven’t noticed, like all straight men, her hair’s a mess.”</p><p>Lucius actually looked crestfallen, but smartly he didn’t argue the point.  Pretty sure he figured that out after I pointed it out to him.  April was wonderful, packing up our old clothes for us just before we left.</p><p>Now I’m the first to admit that I’m not a girly girl, and salons aren’t really my thing.  I’m quite the tomboy in case you haven’t figured that out yet, and to me the point of having really short hair is so you don’t have to do much with it.  I had hoped to just sit at the salon with Lucius (well, I had hoped to be doing something completely different in the first place), but Risa had ended up wanting me to come back with her anyway.  I really got the feeling I was becoming her security blanket, but we didn’t really have the time to try and get her through not needing me to hold her hand.  But one of the stylists wanted to try something with my hair, and I conceded as long as it didn’t involve any cutting.  It was dinner time by the time we were done, with Risa’s hair cut a lot closer to her shoulders but styled simply, with a slightly offset part in her hair to really emphasize the exotic features of her face.  My own hair went from a loose bob to something slicked back that seemed to make me look all the more a business woman you didn’t want to fuck with.  I tried a few sharkish grins in the mirror to compliment the look.</p><p>Lucius drove us back to the garage, telling us we had a couple of stops first and what they were.  First was to meet up with Dean Costello again, and I was out thirteen hundred nuyen for a simple fake ID and throwaway commlink that Lucius explained I would need for this job.  This I didn’t argue against as I really didn’t want my own ‘link to be broadcasting my real ID while I was pretending to be someone else while we were trying to kidnap, er, extract a little girl from her school in broad daylight.  Risa got a similar package as well.  Our second stop was at a Street Pizza for supper.</p><p>“Dinner!” Lucius called out just after he got out of his car.  Risa was right behind me in climbing out of the back seat, sticking close to me while I grabbed the bunch of pizza boxes from the front seat.</p><p>Roland was the first to see us, coming from what I had figured used to be an office space for when this was a real automotive mechanic’s shop.  “Awe, c’mon Lucius,” he said, “you can’t keep bringing ‘em home.  This ain’t a daycare.”</p><p>Lucius chuckled, but I broke out laughing.  My heels clicked on the bare concrete as I carried the pizzas to the kitchen.</p><p>“We didn’t bring home another kid,” I said, “but we got Risa cleaned up.”</p><p>“Damn good thing too.” Roland said, turning to walk ahead of us into the kitchen.  Well, I guess that was that.</p><p>I turned to Risa and said, “We should change back into our other clothes.  We don’t want to soil these before tomorrow.  It won’t work if it looks like we rolled around on pizzas.”</p><p>Risa gave me a wide eyed look, but nodded her understanding and hurried back to the car.  I went on into the kitchen, dropped off the pizzas, and headed back out.  Risa was just starting up the stairs and I noticed she had my old clothes as well as hers.  Guess she wanted me to go with her.  She made sure I was following her, and from the looks I kept getting she wanted me to follow her into her room, which was relatively above the kitchen.</p><p>Now when you’re living with roommates, your own room is more than just a place to sleep but your own little sanctum.  It’s not a communal room, but your private space where you can relax and be yourself.  Now I’m sure some will say that they’re themselves with whoever wherever and such, but realize that everyone’s got their own little secrets, their own little personal things that they don’t share with anyone.</p><p>And Risa was just short of hauling me into her room.</p><p>Her space wasn’t really all that big.  There was a twin sized hideaway bed crammed into one corner, the kind you can lift up and away to get more floor space, a small dresser, a built shelf stood at the wall opposite of the bed, loaded with some actual books, walls were decorated with different kinds of summoning circles, and there wasn’t really a whole lot of space left.  The back wall was actually quite open, mostly windows and some framework for support.  There were no curtains, but I figured that the glass was the kind you could make opaque from the outside.  There was otherwise no place to hide while dressing and anyone with a telescope could see in perfectly clear.  On the plus side there was an open doorway into a bathroom (no door, just a curtain), and when I glanced inside I saw the opposite wall was just the same style of windows continued, along with a combination shower and bathtub, toilet, sink, and mirror.  In both spaces there was a wall mounted florescent light tube to illuminate them.</p><p>I guess Risa had decided that she really liked me, really trusted me (her room had a door to the outside, which she closed once I was inside), and seemed to be too oblivious to my presence when I caught her changing back into her dingy green things right in front of me without any concern about me watching.  Being a bigger girl (I felt practically butch compared to Risa, she nearly being a toothpick compared to my overall athletic build) I had no problem stripping down with her in the room.  It felt nice to get out of those heels and skirt and into my regular street clothes.  Call me a weirdo if you want, but I did notice that Risa didn’t bother with her old undershorts.</p><p>Risa also didn’t bother with the mask or pulling up the hood as we went back downstairs to the kitchen.  Brick was also there, and I guess this was his first time getting a good look at Risa too.  He had the typical guy reaction to a pretty face, and if his jaw could’ve detached itself from his skull it would’ve hit the floor.  Poor Risa was still self conscious, though, and did her best to put me between herself and the ork.</p><p>“Hey, Brick, might wanna close that up before you start letting flies in.” goaded Roland.  I did feel a little bad for Brick, as deeply as he blushed and shyly turned away I figured he was more embarrassed than Risa.  I also guessed that the two hadn’t ever seen her outside of her dully androgynous clothes and mask, too.</p><p>As we ate Lucius went over the highlights of our modified plan.  He’d handle all the talking while I’d pose as a kind of social worker or counselor for Risa, working her overtly natural shyness into the cover story that she was a new foster child from Iran for Ms. Westmore, and we would be there to introduce her to Catherine.  Roland was to hack into the school’s network to subvert the security for us, and Brick would be backup to deal with anyone who got violent with us.</p><p>It was late when we were done, and most of the pizzas were thoroughly thrashed so their remains were consolidated into two boxes and put into the fridge.  I headed back out and towards my motorcycle, packet of clothes in hand, when Lucius called out to me, and so I stopped.  “Thought you might want to stay here the night.” he told me as he walked closer to me.</p><p>“Guess you’ll try and tell me it’ll be easy and convenient if I do, so we can hit the school extra early?” I asked.</p><p>“Partly,” Lucius admitted, “but also your clothes, and I doubt your hairdo will survive a few trips in your helmet.”</p><p>“And here I thought you’d be trying to get a peek at my panties.” I snarked.</p><p>Lucius snorted.  “You can lay off the man hate.” he told me, “I got the message a lot faster than that guy at the Hardpan last week.  No, there’s a room up at the other end of the walk from Risa’s.  Was supposed to be Roland’s but he decided to commandeer another room on the ground floor instead.”</p><p>“And I ain’t huffin’ it up those stairs.” Roland said gruffly as he walked out of the kitchen and through to the old office space, a can of Buzz Cola in hand.  “I can make do just fine over here.”  And with that he was through the curtains and gone.</p><p>“And no, it’s not dwarf sized.” Lucius told me, “We hadn’t gotten that far yet with any remodeling.  It’s really nothing fancy, but you’ll have your own space for the night.”</p><p>“Alright, fine.” I said, starting my walk back to the stairs, “But it’s just for the night, for this job.  After this I’m going back to my place.”</p><p>“Wont’ be a problem at all, Little Lady.”</p><p>I said nothing as I went up the stairs.  I took a peek through an archway at the top of the stairs and noticed a small laundry cubby with a washer and dryer and their essentials.  Risa’s room had been back to the left, and the guys’ rooms were further on that way.  To the right was another door, so that’s where I went.</p><p>The room I was borrowing was a mirror image of Risa’s.  There was a similar bed and dresser, but no shelving for extra things.  The bathroom was also a mirrored twin.  I dropped my pack of clothing on the dresser, and opened up the bed.  When I double checked the door to make sure I could lock it I found there wasn’t any.  At least the controls for the windows were easy, once I found them and had them set for one-way opacity.  Sighing about not having a door to lock I decided to take my chances and stripped down for bed.</p><p>It’s not easy sleeping in a strange place if you’re not bone dead tired.  There are sounds, smells, and other things that your body is trying to process when it doesn’t yet know it doesn’t need to.  I think I ended up laying awake in bed, wearing next to nothing with only a bed sheet covering me, just listening to the sounds of the place.  The ventilation was quite adequate, occasionally kicking on with a gentle rumble to blow fresh air into my room.  Beyond that there wasn’t any noise.  The bed was a lot more comfortable than a couch, and I guess at some point I did manage to fall asleep.</p><p>The next morning I carefully checked my hairdo, used the sink to hit the essentials in cleaning myself rather than using the shower, and got dressed in my fancy new clothes.  I also made sure I had the cheap commlink on me for my PAN, looking over the little details and trying to remember that my name on this was Rhonda Lewis.  At least I would be making more money on this job than I’d spent for it.</p><p>I didn’t have much of a breakfast with the others.  I guess it was part nerves, part disgust at helping kidnap a little girl, that I wasn’t just all that hungry.  I did notice that Lucius seemed to not eat as much as I’d have expected him to.  Was he actually just as nervous as me?  Second thoughts about going through with this?  Maybe it was just normal for him just before a performance like this.</p><p>Again we took the silver clunker as we went to Holm Elementary.  Alright, alright, it’s not really a clunker.  I did notice a Ford logo on the hood, so maybe it was an Americar or something.  It really did run just fine, the interior upholstery was mostly a dark blue in color, and it wasn’t dented or rusted like I might’ve suggested.  I rode in the backseat with Risa, who was looking really nervous.  When we got there it didn’t look like there was much in the way of guest or visitor parking, so Lucius simply parked in an empty and unnamed spot that was close to what looked like the administration offices.  Those spots were in the middle of a roundabout that was in front of the school.  Risa held onto my hand as we followed Lucius inside.  Not far inside, to the left, were the offices.  Lucius opened the door for us and we walked inside.  It just hit me that I was missing my first class at the university.</p><p>An older, toothpick of a woman (and I didn’t think it was possible to look thinner than Risa), graying brunette, wearing a rust colored blazer and skirt walked over to us, her matching heels clicking something fierce.  “Can I help you?” she asked, sounding rather annoyed.</p><p>“Mr. Ray Edwards.” Lucius said, “We have an appointment this morning.  Introductions for Miss Leila Karimi with Miss Catherine Westmore.”</p><p>“Are you sure?” she asked rather sharply.</p><p>“I know we might be a bit late,” Lucius said, “the meeting scheduled at eight this morning and all, but I apologize, we had a little difficulty.”</p><p>The woman held up a finger, her eyes now looking over things only she saw.  Before the advent of augmented reality this might’ve looked really strange.  I took, the moment’s pause to ping her ‘link.  And just as if she were to ping Lucius’s, mine, or Risa’s, I got her name as Laverne Jones.  Well, if she did check us out she’d get the names of our fake IDs.</p><p>Her shoulders slumped, briefly.  Then her back went ramrod straight (what’s a ramrod?) just before she turned her attention to Lucius.  “There’s nothing here about a third person.” she said, glaring at me.</p><p>“That’s, ah, part of the little difficulty.” Lucius said.  “Leila’s had a hard time adjusting.  She’s grown rather attached to Miss Lewis, who’s worked rather closely with Leila these last few days.  I assure you that Miss Lewis’s presence here won’t cause a problem.”</p><p>“Very well.  Right this way.” she gestured to the door we had just come in.</p><p>We followed her deeper into the school.  It was easy to tell the grades in their classrooms by the artwork displayed outside of them, growing in sophistication as we went.  Catherine’s class was towards the far end, in the sixth grade classes.</p><p>“Please wait out here.” Ms. Jones said, stepping just inside a classroom.  No one said anything while we waited, which wasn’t very long.  Catherine was with her when Ms. Jones came back out.</p><p>I don’t know how recent the hardcopy pic was, but it must’ve been close.  Her shoulder length hair was now all pulled back and worked into a French braid.  She wore a school uniform of a dark blue jacket and matching skirt, with a white blouse and stockings, and black slip-on shoes.  Light glinted from the chrome of her cybernetic eyes.</p><p>“Catherine, this is Leila.” Ms. Jones said.  “She’s going to be living with you and your mother.”</p><p>“Mommy didn’t tell me anything about this.” Catherine said, looking at Ms. Jones.  “She’d tell me if we were going to have someone live with us.”</p><p>“Are you sure she just didn’t just forget?” Lucius asked.</p><p>Catherine actually glared at him.  “She told me about Mr. McPherson days before he came to live with us.” she told him with stone cold assuredness.</p><p>“I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you all to leave.” Ms. Jones told us, her attitude suddenly changing.</p><p>Well crap.</p><p>An alarm went off, a bell ringing for a good five seconds, and the rooms started to disgorge kids as quickly as the doors would allow.  I don’t know if something tipped Catherine off, like stranger danger or something, but she took that moment to run.</p><p>“Catherine!” Ms. Jones yelled.</p><p>“I’ll get her.” I said, taking off as quickly as I could.  It took me a bit to try and remember how to move quickly in heels, which isn’t as easy as you might think.  Oh, sure, the girls in the horror trids that try to run in heels always break them or an ankle, but that’s not quite reality.  It takes practice, like walking in heels to begin with.</p><p>But my problem was that I was out of practice, and I was wearing a skirt that limited my strides when I wanted to really move.  By the time I had found my stride Catherine was well ahead of me, and I had the added drawback of trying to push my way through a crowd of sixth graders.  I saw her pushing ahead and go around a corner.  I tried to give chase, and just as I started to get around that corner the kids suddenly started freaking out and going the other way.</p><p>“Hold it!” a man yelled at me.  There were three Lone Star guards, and they had all pulled guns on me.  “Hands in the air!  Turn around!”</p><p>Part of me wanted to do just as the guy said.  Maybe trying to be a shadowrunner was starting to rub off on me.  Maybe I started to transpose that guard as my father, or a father figure.  You know, I don’t know why the fuck I did what I did, but I did it.</p><p>It was almost like pure reflex, a quick gathering of power and the desire to disappear.  I felt the power hit me in the head like I’d been punched, but I held it with a bit of effort.  I ducked right away, there was a bunch of gunshots, and kids started screaming.  I slipped out of my heels, grabbed them, and scrambled aside as best as I could.</p><p>“Where’d she go?” one of the Stars asked.  That was good, in a way.  I’m not so good when it comes to sorcery, but I’d managed to become invisible to them.  Probably would fool the kids too.</p><p>But there’s a problem being invisible when there’s a lot of people.  If they can’t see you (which is the point of being invisible) they can bump into you, and you have to either really be careful to navigate around others or just shove them aside, in which case then you’re almost as good as visible anyway.  Then there’s the drones, which if I wasn’t good enough with the magic they’d be able to see me anyway.  And if they had other sensors they might not need to.</p><p>And on top of that I’d lost Catherine.</p><p>I ignored the guards and started going down the hallway, towards what I hoped was an exit.  It wasn’t as easy as you’d think.  It took a bit of willpower to keep my spell running, and pantyhose and linoleum don’t mix.  At least my feet didn’t squeak at the occasional slip.</p><p>And fuck me if I wasn’t stuck on my own again.  How does this keep happening?  Anyway, with an empty hallway I picked up the pace to try and get my ass out of the school.</p><p>Lucky me I managed to get to the doors by the offices.  I think my spell slipped as I slammed myself into the door.  A Star might’ve seen me, shot at me, but I just tried to run faster.</p><p>Shit, where’d Lucius park?  I couldn’t recall where, couldn’t find a silver car that looked like what we came in.</p><p>There were more gunshots behind me, and I did the stupid thing and ran.  I spotted Roland’s white van coming down the street, looking so nondescript and like any other white van out there, so I sprinted for it.  Something stung me in the back, and it hurt like hell, I almost lost my balance but I kept running.  If I could just make it…</p><p>Something hit me hard in the shoulder, and I stumbled.  I thought I wasn’t going to make it, that Roland would just hit the gas and go.  Brick practically fell out of the door, and I managed to grab his hand.  I heard more gunshots as he pulled me in, but I didn’t care anymore.</p><p>I guess I blacked out because the next thing I knew I was back at their garage again, lying on the couch I had slept on two nights ago, on my stomach…</p><p>And someone’s hand touching my bare back!</p><p>Pushing myself upright brought on a new world of pain, my right arm almost giving out but I still got myself to a sitting position.  When I saw it was Lucius, and noticed I was naked from the waste up I hit him.  The backhanded blow knocked him over, and right away I had an arm across my chest to cover myself as best I could.  Looking around I spotted my blazer, grabbed it, setting my shoulder on fire again, but held it to my chest to cover myself.</p><p>“Ow!” went Lucius, “Let no one say you hit like a girl.”</p><p>“What the fuck were you doing?” I demanded.</p><p>“Rubbing some liniment on your back where you got shot.” Lucius told me.  “You took a few slugs in the back, one got you really good in the shoulder blade.  Thankfully they were just gel rounds, but they hurt like a bitch.”</p><p>“You didn’t…  You weren’t…”</p><p>“Trying to molest you?  Hell no.  Pretty sure you’d try more than just bitch slapping me if I had.”</p><p>I suddenly felt dizzy, and this time I did fall back over on the couch.  Despite the soft cushions my shoulder got jarred and it hurt all over again.  I closed my eyes to try and keep the world from spinning, which didn’t do a whole lot of good.</p><p>“Catherine?” I asked.</p><p>“Managed to get away.  Guess she managed to tell some guards, and that’s why they started shooting.”</p><p>“Anyone hurt?”</p><p>“Far as I know, only you.  Risa went invisible and while everyone else seemed to be distracted about you and Catherine we managed to slip out.”</p><p>“You’re welcome.” I muttered.  I wanted to cry, feeling like a used tampon.</p><p>“Hey, we’re a team.  We gotta stick together no matter what.” Lucius told me, his words sounding tender.  “Now if you could roll back onto your stomach I think you’ll like having this stuff on your bruises.”</p><p>That I managed to do without giving him another show.  He did seem decent enough, focusing on just rubbing that cold cream stuff where I’d been hit rather than trying to feel me up.  Once that stuff had gotten soaked in he pulled a light blanket over me and told me to try and get some more rest, that we’d work out our Plan B after I was feeling better.</p><p>Somehow I did manage to nap for a little while.  At least until one of the garage doors started rumbling to let in Roland’s van.  I cracked an eye open to watch them, and I guess they figured I was asleep as they did their best to be very quiet as they walked from his parking spot to the kitchen.  I happened to notice then that the silver car was missing.  I guess Lucius returned it.  Hope his friend isn’t in too much trouble if it gets tracked back to him.</p><p>It was maybe another hour later or so when I felt the need to pee.  My back and arm didn’t hurt so much now when I sat back up, which I guess was a good thing.  There wasn’t any new pain when I collected my things and went upstairs to, well, I guess, my room.  Not like I was living here or something.  Anyway, I stripped out of the power business woman attire, used the toilet, and dressed in my regular clothes.  Then I went back downstairs to the kitchen.  This time I had the room all to myself, so I raided the fridge for some leftover pizza, found a paper plate to put a few pieces on, and hit the button for a Buzz Cola on the vending machine.</p><p>The noise must’ve attracted attention as Lucius and Brick came in.  “Feeling better?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Yeah, guess so.” I answered before taking a bite of pizza.  I ate it cold.  Something about pizza post-microwave makes it just plain bad.  I noticed Brick smile a bit.</p><p>“Hey, Brick, can you get the others?”  The ork nodded and left Lucius with me.  He pulled out a chair at the other end of the table from me.</p><p>I swallowed my bite before asking, “What all happened?”</p><p>Lucius leaned back in his chair, saying, “Well, we put the whole school on lockdown, no kids got hurt, and thanks to Roland’s trashing of security evidence there’s several Stars on administrative leave for discharging their firearms the way they did.  Several are giving descriptions that kinda line up with you, but without hard evidence it’s just their word.  Funny thing that most of the kids didn’t see you at all.”</p><p>“Yeah, funny thing.” I said softly, rubbing a thumb against a few of my rings.  One of them was the token that let me become invisible.  Without it, whichever one it really was, I couldn’t cast that spell.</p><p>“Then I guess we try and take her from her home then.” I said just before taking a swallow of cola.</p><p>“That’s the plan, for tonight.” Lucius said as Roland came walking in.</p><p>“Yeah, and it’s gonna be a little harder to do.” Roland said as he walked over to the vending machine.  He walked around the table to hop up into his chair.  I noticed the can had an Ares logo on it, and the label “40 Caliber” written down the side.  “There’s two more rigs parked in the drive now, and a bunch of people were in them, including a troll.”  He opened the can, but didn’t do anything more with it.</p><p>“So, how many are we counting on having to deal with?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Including McPherson, eight.  All human ‘cept the troll.”</p><p>Now I really lost what appetite I had.</p><p>Brick returned, and Risa was leading the way.  She made a beeline straight to me, seeming to be very excited to see me.  She was also back in her green clothes again, mask included.  She hugged me something fierce, but all I could manage was a weak one-armed return hug.  It didn’t’ seem to deter her.</p><p>“Right, now that we’re all here,” Lucius said while Brick claimed a chair of his own, “did you manage to find anything out about McPherson?”</p><p>“Yeah, plenty.” Roland told us, “And it’s scary shit, too.  “His name’s Jack McPherson, but he goes by Frost.  Former UCAS Special Forces and former leader of a tight nit little group called The Trinity.  Obviously now he’s a full time baby sitter.</p><p>“He and the Trinity have a rep reachin’ back ten years.  He ain’t leadin’ it now; the troll is.  Goes by the name Jackhammer.  Then there’s Diva, the only lady in the bunch and a magician, hermetic; her spells focus on combat, natch.  Last is Deimos, rigger and pilot.  Those three are still active UCAS military, black ops types that specialize in counter-insurgency.  On record they officially geeked a bunch of those New Revolution types back in ’64.”</p><p>Now I wanted to throw up.  I was twelve when it happened, Crash 2.0.  I couldn’t really understand all of it then as it happened, but I remember being scared.  This New Revolution group had tried to take over the UCAS and the CAS, bent on some impossible idea of bringing back the United States, killing a bunch of people in the process, including president Haeffner.  I know this group didn’t do anything about the Crash, but I had lost a good friend that day (my parents tried to tell me I was better off).</p><p>There was something else that made me feel sick when I thought about my friend, and my parents, all in the aftermath.  They’d been really angry a lot, really short tempered, worse than hobgoblins.</p><p>“You okay?” I heard Brick ask.</p><p>I guess I’d drifted off a bit.  “Yeah, yeah, I think.”</p><p>“You were starting to look a little green.  Kinda like Risa’s outfit.” Lucius said, “Feel like sharing?”</p><p>“We got time?” Roland gruffly asked.</p><p>“We all need to be on our A game,” Lucius told him, “and if she’s got her head in the clouds she’s gonna get us all killed.”</p><p>“I… I was just… thinking ‘bout back then.” I softly said, “I was twelve, and a friend that died because she was online during the Crash.  And…  My parents, how angry they were afterwards.  Not ‘bout my friend… just… shit.”  Risa gave me another squeeze, and this time I managed a bit more of a return hug.  When I looked at the guys I saw they were all looking sad, even Roland.</p><p>“Here,” Roland said, pushing me his can of 40 Caliber with his cybernetic arm.  “I think you might need this more than me.”</p><p>“She’s under aged, you know.” Lucius said.</p><p>I didn’t care.  I took the can and immediately started chugging it.  I managed to keep from choking when the bitter taste of beer hit me, the hard carbonation and pungent aroma that assailed my nose.  I downed half the 500ml can before slamming it back down on the table.  Then I let loose a tremendous belch that made Brick smile.</p><p>Like I said, fuck lady like.</p><p>“Girl after my own heart.” Roland said, sliding off his chair to walk back to the vending machine.</p><p>“You gonna be okay?” Lucius asked.</p><p>I closed my eyes and tried to fight the new spinning sensations hitting my head, but the new warm feeling in my stomach was nice.  “Yeah, I think so.” I said.</p><p>“Alright then.” Lucius went, “What else do we know about the others?”</p><p>The vending machine chunked twice as Roland spoke.  “They’re not special forces, but they’re all somehow a friend or connected to Frost or the Trinity.” he said, “I couldn’t get a bead on any weapons, but don’t think they’re gonna be unprepared.”</p><p>“Handguns, SMGs, that sort.” Brick added.</p><p>“Yeah, and no tellin’ what kind of ammo.” Roland finished, walking back to his chair.  He had two more cans of 40 Caliber, and one was slid towards Brick.</p><p>“Just… how do you know this?” I asked.</p><p>“Fly-Spy hiding in a tree next door.” Roland told me, “Signal’s piggybacked halfway across the CAS sector.  Encrypted, of course.”</p><p>That sent a shiver down my spine.  A tiny little drone like that, hiding where pretty much no one could see it, watching someone’s home.</p><p>“Don’t worry about Big Brother,” Lucius said, “it takes a lot of manpower to filter through all the data they’d get, and even then it’s likely on sensory overload.”</p><p>“And we get by largely by not doing big stupid shit, like New Revolution.” Roland added.  “That’s when the fed’s alphabet soup takes notice, and then they really start watching you and shit like that.”</p><p>“But it’s a bit more complicated than that.” Lucius admitted, “Anyway, so we’ve got seven armed and armored humans, and a matching troll.  What else can we expect?”</p><p>“It’s a small place, and we can’t really figure the internal floor plan.” Roland confessed.  “Windows are always blacked out so there’s no seeing inside at all.  I did, however, manage to come up with some generalized idea on what it <em>might</em> look like.”</p><p>He must’ve had an ARO ready, and set it to be a public display as an image of the condo appeared in about the middle of the table.  It slowly spun around so we all could get a look at the exterior shape from all angles.  Lucius and I never saw more than the front side when we did our stakeout.  Curious, as it kinda looked like a mashed together kit of building blocks rather than something neatly squared off like my dorm or this garage.</p><p>I also noticed that Brick had put on a pair of heavy looking glasses.</p><p>The ARO continued to spin, but the exterior walls nearly vanished, becoming see-through.  There were a few interior walls added, but not much else.</p><p>“I’m takin’ some guesses from the windows we can see.” Roland said, “And some liberties to how I might arrange things just for living, all based on the odd shape of it from the outside.”</p><p>“Looks a little twisty.” I said.</p><p>“Yeah, and my guess is the bedrooms are in the back.  Traditional style, you know.”</p><p>“Looks like we’d come in to a family room, and then practically double back through a dining room just to get to the bedrooms.” Lucius said.</p><p>“Chokepoints.” Brick added.</p><p>“Yeah, depending on how the furniture’s laid out we could get into a crossfire.” Roland said.  Ghostly furniture was added to the family room, a couch placed at an angle towards the front door.  It looked like it was in just the right place to be out of the line of fire of anyone who’d be in the dining room.  And I guess I was on the right track when four ghostly people were added, three crouching behind the couch and a fourth in the doorway.</p><p>“But we don’t know who’s where.” Brick added.</p><p>“Yeah, no idea where muscle and mojo are.” Roland admitted.</p><p>“If you were planning this, Brick, where’d you put them?” Lucius asked.</p><p>Brick reached into the ARO to touch the middle guy behind the couch.  “Big guy, big shotgun.  He’d be here.” he said.  Then he stuck his finger in what I would’ve guessed would be the kitchen and said, “Rigger guy here.  Machine pistol or SMG.”  Roland added another red figure.</p><p>There were a few more empty blocks towards the back, though Roland had figured they’d be bedrooms he didn’t put anything in them.</p><p>“Girl’s room, put mojo and Frost.” Brick said.  Roland arbitrarily chose one, putting a little blue figure to represent Catherine behind two more red figures in one room.</p><p>“That makes seven.” Lucius said.</p><p>Brick closed his eyes and scowled.  When he opened them he jabbed a finger into the kitchen and said, “Make it two guys here.”</p><p>“And what kind of ammo would you give everyone?” Lucius asked.</p><p>Brick looked to the elf and shrugged.  “Depends.  Maybe stunners, maybe boomers.”</p><p>“Shit.” Roland cussed.</p><p>Stunners?  Boomers?</p><p>I guess Lucius saw the confused look on my face.  “Gel and stick-n-shock rounds, or ex-explosive.” he said.</p><p>I had another sinking feeling in my stomach, and filled it with another good swallow of beer.  It didn’t really help.  I tried not to think about bullets that exploded once they were inside you.</p><p>“And we won’t know ‘til the bullets start flyin’.” Roland said.</p><p>“We’ve done worse with less.” Lucius said.</p><p>“None of them involved a little girl.”</p><p>I looked at Risa, though it was kinda hard to when she had her hood up still.  What was she then if not also a little girl?</p><p>“I don’t think we’re gonna have much choice.” Lucius said.  “Alright Brick, with what we’ve got how do we try to get her out?”</p><p>Brick shook his head.  “Need more guns.”</p><p>“Um, what if we don’t need them?” I asked.  The guys all looked at me.  “Uh, alright, I’m no tactical genius, and I know watching a bunch of trids isn’t anything like reality, but…”  I stared at the ARO.  “Could you stop that from spinning?”</p><p>It took a second or two, but the model stopped.</p><p>“Okay.  Brick’s planning this like there’s only one way we can come in, right through the front door.” I said.  “And these guys are really smart.  But what if they’re expecting us to do something stupid like this?”</p><p>“Hey!” Brick cried out.</p><p>“He’s not as stupid as you think.” Lucius sternly told me.</p><p>I waved a hand.  “I didn’t mean it that way.  Look, one thing I get a lot in those trids is that a frontal attack is like crazy, suicide, and stuff like that.  If Brick’s right, then they’re expecting us to do something stupid like that.</p><p>“But what if,” I continued, “we give them what they want, but really…” I pointed over to what was an obvious window in the back, “Try and hit them up the ass?”</p><p>I think Brick got it first, grinning a big tusky grin.  “Surprise, a f…  f…”</p><p>“A feint.” Lucius said, studying the ARO intently.  “We draw their attention to the front while someone gets behind, breaks out a window, and gets her out that way.”</p><p>“But she’ll likely be guarded,” Roland said, “and we don’t know where specifically she’ll be.”</p><p>“Still, not quite as risky as trying to push through half a dozen more people.” Lucius countered.  “And those windows could be hard to break.”  He looked to me and said, “Gel rounds won’t do squat to them.”</p><p>“Yeah, was wondering how I could break one.” I said.  “Figured you could use my gun on the front for the distraction.”</p><p>“Oh ho ho!” cried Lucius, “What makes you think…”</p><p>I interrupted him with, “Guys are scary, girls are pretty.”  That actually made Roland chuckle.</p><p>“I get it.” Brick said, sounding more serious than amused.  “You,” he pointed to Lucius, “and me hit door.  We shoot, maybe few grenades.  Little Lady go ‘round back, get girl out.  Roland stay in van and do… techy stuff.  Risa stay there, do magic with spirits.”</p><p>“I could… an earth spirit’s really strong.” Risa said.</p><p>“It breaks the window so I can get in, clears the way for me to get out with Catherine.” I said.  Risa nodded.  “And I guess I’ll figure something out with whoever’s back there with her.”  Oh shit, I was nervous as hell now.</p><p>“Looks like we got a plan.” Lucius said.  “Guess all we need to do is get some noise makers and party favors and we’ll be set.”</p><p>Okay, that kinda made me feel a little better about my plan.  Part of me really hoped it’d work.  Part of me still felt sick about helping snatch Catherine from her home.</p><p>Lucius and Brick went out to get the stuff they figured they needed.  Meanwhile I went out to the couch where it was a bit more comfortable and logged into the university’s network so I could try and catch up on what I had missed in classes today.  Roland and Risa did whatever they needed before we went out.</p><p>It was well after seven in the evening when Lucius and Brick returned.  We went over the plan once more before heading out.  This time Brick rode with Lucius in his car while I rode with Roland with Risa in the van.</p><p>Again I started thinking about this job, kidnapping a little girl.  It did kinda seem kinda ironic that we also had a little girl with us, helping out to take her from her home.  I was glad I didn’t have any dinner as my stomach was doing more flips than an Olympic gold medal gymnast.  I was also nervous, scared, apprehensive about this whole thing while I sat in the van, holding my motorcycle helmet in my lap.  I was glad I didn’t throw up.</p><p>The clue we’d arrived was when I felt the van pull over and come to a stop.  Then Roland set up the TalkTime chat for us.  I pulled my helmet on, securing it like I normally did.</p><p>“<em>Right,</em>” Roland said into the chat, “<em>I’m gonna hit their network, might get in, might set off every alarm.  Either way I’m gonna fuck with their security.</em>”</p><p>“<em>Just let us know how the chips fall.</em>” Lucius said.</p><p>It looked like Roland had decided to take a nap in the driver’s seat, but I knew better.  Just like when a magician projects your body goes limp when you go into virtual reality.  For hackers it means being able to work at even greater speeds to cut their way into a computer system.</p><p>About ten seconds later Roland said, “<em>In and they’re alerted.  They were already waiting.  Fucking things up now.</em>”</p><p>The back doors opened automatically for me, Roland’s doing.  I bolted out the back, seeing Lucius and Brick as they made their way towards the front door.  They went to either side of the doorway, and Brick gave it such a powerful kick that it sounded like a grenade had gone off when the door hit the wall inside.  Neither of them were in the way when a bunch of gunshots rang out.  I was also way off to the side, no way anyone could’ve seen me crossing the street through the door.  Maybe from the dining room, but then Roland could’ve fucked them up there by blacking that window out from the inside as well.</p><p>I kept low as I hustled past a large window that I figured was to the living room.  It was completely black and I heard gunfire going off.  That or they decided to make some real popcorn.  I could smell a bit of water on the lawn, the grass already turning a healthy green as I rounded the corner towards the back of the condo.  I had to circle around the back completely to reach the window that we thought was to Catherine’s bedroom.  It wasn’t until I got there that Risa’s spirit appeared, a basic humanoid that looked like one solid piece of rock, tall as an ork and almost as wide.  It certainly wasn’t a solid chunk as it moved more like it was fluid.  With a huge limb it smashed the window in, sweeping away whatever glass was still at the bottom of the frame.</p><p>Okay, not quite as a surprise as when I had vaulted the window and happened to slug a Black Cat in the face, but I was up and over as quickly as I could manage.</p><p>It was Catherine’s room alright.  A single twin bed in one corner with pink sheets, posters of cartoon girls (one of them styled for Mercury Maxim) and ponies decorated all of the available wall space, and a purple colored dresser was cluttered with other knickknacks.</p><p>There was no Catherine, no Frost, and nobody at all but me.</p><p>Something plowed into my head so hard and so fast that I actually fell over.  I scrambled away from the door just as several gunshots rang out, punching holes in the door.</p><p>Holy fucking shit!  I’d been shot!</p><p>My heart pounded as I checked myself, making sure I wasn’t bleeding or anything.  I didn’t get very far when the door flew open.  Out of pure fright I disappeared.</p><p>It was a woman that came in, a monster gun in both hands.  She looked athletic, hard, with short cut black hair and an angry look in her dark eyes.  If Brick was right this was Diva, their magician.  Oh, fuck me.</p><p>She looked around twice, her gaze passing over me completely.  She should’ve spotted me, knowing how to unravel whatever spell I could do that made me disappear.  Just how lucky had I gotten?</p><p>When she turned around to hurry back the way she came, I moved.  A neat tuck and roll forward and I was on my feet but still crouched, holding onto my spell.  I then lunged at her, turning my shoulder like I’d seen so many football players do, but hitting her hard to the small of the back (I think that’s illegal in football), and as she stumbled I brought both fists down on her shoulders, plastering her to the floor.</p><p>The door across the hall was open, and as the woman dropped I saw Mr. Marine, Frost, standing there.  He took some kind of shooting stance, but when he fired I was already out of the way.  My fist was still invisible as I came at him, slamming hard in his gut.</p><p>And fuck did that hurt!  He must’ve been wearing some hard body armor or something, it was as bad as punching that Black Cat.  He doubled over, but tried lashing out at me.  For an instant I could see his fist coming at me, and I was out of the way.  It was almost too easy.  Especially when I took a sidestep and kicked him in the face like I was trying to make a field goal with his head.  He practically flipped over onto his back, and before he could get back up I had my gun in hand and shot him, twice!</p><p>Okay, I know I only have gel rounds in it, but shooting a person’s still shooting a person.  And gel rounds have been known to kill people too.  I barely heard the gunfire happening in the family room, just standing over Frost and staring at him.  Then I noticed he was still breathing, and I couldn’t see any blood.  Guess I got him unconscious.</p><p>“Jack?” asked a small voice.</p><p>When I turned around I got a better look at this room.  It had to be her mom’s room.  Bigger bed, two nightstands, a desk, a double sized dresser, this was meant for a couple.  There was also a large, walk-in closet, and that’s where Catherine had been hiding.</p><p>Hey, gotta give Brick credit, he was pretty fucking close to guessing Frost’s plan.</p><p>“<em>I found her.</em>” I announced into the chat.  I also let my spell end, becoming visible to Catherine.  I really felt bad for her, seeing this big biker chick with a gun in hand just suddenly appear out of nowhere.  She looked at me with wide eyes, trembling.  She wasn’t in her school uniform, having changed out for a pink pullover shirt and matching sweat pants, and she was barefoot.  The braid in her hair had been undone and she had a pink hair band holding it back from her face.</p><p>I flinched when I heard a grenade go off in the family room.  Catherine shrieked and crouched down.</p><p>I tried to think of how we were going to get out, and had one quick idea.  I holstered my gun, grabbed the terrified girl, and flung her over a shoulder.  She shrieked again, more from surprise this time, and holding onto her I hustled back through her room, stepping around the still downed woman, broken chunks of glass crunching under my boots.  Risa’s spirit appeared before me, still outside.  I passed the terrified Catherine to its outstretched arms and it took a strong but still gentle hold of her.</p><p>“Back to the van.” I told it, if it’d do any good.  I jumped out the window to follow it, retracing my steps around behind the condo.  Gunfire continued going off inside.</p><p>The back doors to the van opened up for us as we got close, and I jumped in first.  The spirit didn’t exactly step up, but stretched its arms out to deposit Catherine in the back with us.  It vanished just as the doors started closing again.</p><p>“Sit.” I told Catherine, indicating to an empty chair behind the one Risa was using.  When she didn’t immediately comply I pulled my gun and tried to look casual in aiming it at her.  She blanched and quickly sat down.  Once I was seated the van started moving.</p><p>“<em>Package secured.</em>” Roland announced into the chat before closing it out entirely.  I took that as my cue to switch the wireless off on my commlink too.</p><p>After a few minutes I started to feel a little calmer.  Risa had also returned to her body but stayed seated where she was.  We’d gotten onto a main street, and I guess Roland had programmed his van with an address as he got out of his seat and walked over to Catherine.  She stared at him, eyes wide and full of fear.  He stared right back at her.</p><p>“What is it?” I asked.</p><p>“Just runnin’ a scan, Little Lady.” he said.  “Eyes these days come with recording capabilities.”  After a little bit he grunted and returned to his seat.  “Just covering our asses.  Mom’s smart with a few tricks, that’s all.”</p><p>It felt like it was going to be a long, quiet, tense ride.  After maybe ten, fifteen minutes or so Roland announced, “Just got the address for delivery.  Sit tight and we’ll be there before you know it.”</p><p>No one said anything.  Looking again at Catherine my heart went out to her.  She’d been terrified for so long now that she’d gone completely numb.  She just sat there, curled up in the fetal position, hugging her legs to her chest.  She had cried for a while, but those tears had dried up now.</p><p>Yes, cybernetic eyes have tears too.</p><p>The border crossing turned out to be a lot easier than I had expected.  Part of me had wondered if Risa had been invisible when I came jumping out that window after the Black Cats last week, and I had the proof of it when she turned around in her seat to look at Catherine, and she practically disappeared.  She then looked at me, and I could feel the touch of her magic as it spread over me, making me disappear from view too.  She then worked the spell a third time to make herself vanish.  It wasn’t anything flashy.  One moment she was there and the next she was simply gone.</p><p>Now when I looked at Catherine I could still see her.  It wasn’t like the spell just didn’t take effect, she was just a little fuzzy around the edges.</p><p>And she knew what had been done.  I saw her eyes dart down to her legs, her eyes widening as she realized she was invisible.  When she started to work her way closer to the edge of her seat I prodded her with the barrel of my gun.  She jumped back.  I felt a little sick doing it.</p><p>But I think we had hit the border crossing at a good time, like at the end of someone’s shift good.  Someone took a peek in, and that was about it before we were moving again.  After a few minutes Roland said, “You can drop your spells now.”</p><p>I waited a few more minutes before I asked, “How much longer?”</p><p>“Shouldn’t be long now.” Roland said.  “Best keep that gun handy, it’s not exactly a friendly neighborhood.  We’re going in the Warrens.”</p><p>I remembered a bit of the orientation data scan I got when I got in the University Of Denver.  The Arvada Barrens that were in the PCC sector (formerly the Ute sector) and the Aurora Warrens in the UCAS sector were heavily discouraged from visiting.  Wasn’t all that hard a concept for me to file away in my brain as the places sounded just like Redmond back in Seattle.</p><p>And here we were going right into hostile territory, gang territory, and I really wished I had something bigger in my hand.  Or at least some really lethal ammo.</p><p>At least Roland wasn’t wrong.  It wasn’t too long before he was pulling into some driveway and we were getting out.  I had to gesture with my gun to get Catherine to move from her seat.  Risa and Roland got out on the passenger side first, and I followed Catherine right behind them.  When we got out I noticed that Roland had drawn his gun too, a revolver that looked a little big in his hand.</p><p>The place itself looked like it had been a nice home at some point in the past, but after the Treaty Of Denver, the dissection of the city and all Aurora had really fallen by the wayside.  There weren’t any streetlights that worked and no moon in the sky.  It was hard to see anything at all.  There was barely a glow coming from inside the abandoned house.</p><p>Another light appeared at the front door, and two people stepped out.  They were both human, taller than me, one man and one woman.  She carried a battery powered lantern and he had a big pistol in his right hand.  Maybe a generalization, or whatever, but my first thought was to think that they too were shadowrunners.</p><p>“This her?” the man asked when they got close.</p><p>“Yup.” Roland answered.</p><p>“C’mon in side.” the man said, gesturing at Catherine with his pistol.  “If you’re hungry we’ve got food.” he said.</p><p>I had to give her a nudge, but I did it gently with my other hand.  Catherine trudged forward, watching the ground where she stepped as she walked past the man.</p><p>“Hey!” I called out loudly, waiting for the man to turn back around to look at me.  “You hurt her I’ll fuck you over.”</p><p>Catherine and the woman stopped, both turning to look at the man as he walked up to me.  Shit, he was taller than I thought.  Dark hair, dark eyes, and maybe a weeks worth of stubble.  He was more than a full head taller than me.</p><p>He stepped right up to me, into my personal space, but I didn’t budge.  “You say something?” he asked, his voice soft yet really menacing.</p><p>I gave him the best glare I could, flipping up my visor so we could see eye to eye.  “Yeah.” I said, trying to sound just as mean, “Fuck with her and I’ll kill you.”</p><p>Counting the seconds we stared at each other, I think I got to seven before his pissed off look suddenly turned to an amused grin.  He actually smiled, chuckled a bit, and even gave me a bump on the shoulder.  “I like you.” he said, “We got orders.  Nothing happens or we don’t even get paid.” he said.  And with that he turned and walked back to Catherine and the woman, laughing a bit more.</p><p>Holy crap, I felt like I needed to pee.  Or vomit.  Can you do both at the same time?  No, I don’t wanna know.  And I don’t know how I managed it but I kept standing, not even a wobble.</p><p>“Fuckin’ ballsy, kid.” Roland muttered.</p><p>“Hey, I didn’t know they’d gotten the same orders.” I said.</p><p>Roland waved me off.  “No need to defend yourself.” he told me.  “‘Sides, knowing you you’d at least try, if not actually do it.”  After a pause he added, “Might wanna kick your ‘links on.  We got paid.”</p><p>As we walked back to the van I holstered my gun and pulled out my Airware to turn it back on.  After a minute it was booted up and reconnected to my trodes and such, and after a few more seconds I got the message from Ms. Johnson, including our money for the job.</p><p>“Let’s get the fuck outta here.” I said as I claimed my seat in the van.</p>
<hr/><p>Tuesday came and went like any other day.  A few friends ask about where I was over the weekend, and I just told them that I’d had a short job that took up all my time.  Short, succinct, and I really was glad no one pushed deeper.  Lucius had been the one to get the money from Ms. Johnson, but we’d all gotten an equal portion.  And true to her word she threw in a little extra for what happened outside the grill that evening.  Classes came and went, but I still kept thinking about Catherine.  I hoped things would work out in the end.</p><p>I think things were starting to get back to normal the next morning.  No grunting or porno from the guy next door and April was starting off as a warm and sunny month.  I’d gotten a conglomeration of breakfast foodstuffs and was late to get into earshot of some friends at a table as I sat down.</p><p>At first glance Seth was the kind of guy my parents would’ve approved of.  Smart, witty, and most importantly a blue eyed blond human.  He was a few years older than me, majoring in matrix studies, and that friend who was interning at LuCom (something he was still excited about, even after a month).  They would’ve tried having him murdered if they also knew he was quite gay.  I just wish I had known before I had… er, yeah.  I’ll just leave it that only the guys’ll get <em>really</em> lucky.</p><p>Allison, Hanako, and another guy named Kody were also sitting with him.  Kody was shorter than me, stocky, with black hair but light blue eyes, and had been born with a few defects (yeah, my parents would’ve hated him too, and I wouldn’t’ve given a shit) that had required a month long bath in blue goo to fix a genetic mutation before getting a cybernetic arm attached to the stump of what was supposed to pass for his right arm.  He was focusing on some kind of media classes, I’m not quite sure for what.  Visual special effects?  Editing?  Something for the entertainment industry, that much I could remember.</p><p>“About time you showed up.” Allison said, giving me a friendly berating.  “You could’ve saved us from another of Seth’s tech jokes.”</p><p>“Can’t help it if you don’t like good humor.” Seth retorted.</p><p>“Hey, you know I don’t get those things anymore than you do.” I told Allison.</p><p>“Not gonna stop me from telling them.” said an indignant Seth.</p><p>“Oh, fuck.” cussed Kody.</p><p>“You hitting the screamsheets again?” asked Allison.  “You always find the worst things, and half of them at least are bullshit.”</p><p>“Something new in the tempo bust in Neo-Tokyo.” asked Hanako.</p><p>“No, this’s local.” Kody told us.  Rather than saying anything more he forwarded whatever ARO he had to the rest of us.</p><p>As soon as I mentally hit the [Open] icon I really wished I hadn’t.  But then, everyone else was likely reading the same…</p><p>The headline alone made me feel sick to my stomach.  “INNOCENT LIFE TAKEN” it read.  I forced myself to read through the whole thing, slowly, digesting every pulse in the article, and doing what I could to keep my cool.</p><p>In short, Catherine had been tracked down to the abandoned home where we’d left her by Lone Star officers, the others had agreed to release her, and that was when someone shot her.  That had started a gunfight that left the others all dead.</p><p>“I gotta…” I started to say, bolting from the table as quickly as I could to run for the toilets.  I was kinda surprised at how much I threw up even though I hadn’t had more than a few bites of breakfast.  After I was done, sitting on the toilet as it flushed away the mess, I was feeling hot and sweaty, the tiled wall behind me feeling sickeningly cold to the touch, and my stomach was still trying to turn cartwheels over and over.</p><p>I wanted to cry right there, ball my head off, get it out of me, all because I’d helped get a little girl killed.  But the tears never came, and I don’t have a fucking clue why.</p><p>Allison and Hanako both came in to check on me after a few more minutes, and I managed to tell them I was fine.  They believed me.</p><p>After a little bit more I pulled out my Airware, using its selfie camera to check my looks.  Not for vanity, but I wanted to make sure I’d not look too much like shit.  Then I dug up my activity list, tracked down a name from a few weeks back, and hit the call link.</p><p>There was an answer after a few rings.  “Hello?” asked Dean Costello.  Once he saw my face he immediately said, “Whoa, you look like shit.”  Nice, but at least he was honest.</p><p>“Yeah, shit went sideways.” I told him.</p><p>“No shit.  I’ve read the scans.  Seriously, truly, I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Save it.” I barked, maybe a bit too sharply.</p><p>“So, business then.” he said a bit curtly.  “What can I do for you?  Mind that now’s way too soon…”</p><p>“Fuck the scan, and fuck the sniper.  That ID?  I’m in.  Top of the line, bullet proof, whatever.  And here’s what I’ll want attached to it…”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The first chapter where Shay really crosses a line.  Maybe more like shoved across.  All I'll say is the final resolution for her, that comes in Chapter 8, was already planned when I was writing this chapter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Thrash The Body Electric</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Business is business, and often it's a complicated world to navigate.  But there are times when one business wants to take over another, then things become cutthroat, messier, and usually even more complicated.</p><p>For shadowrunners caught in the middle, doing the dirty work for one side or another, things often aren't so difficult.  The fallout that comes during or after, though, could be bad...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Based on the mission written by Mark DelPrincipe:</p><p>When Saturday rolled around I was honestly expecting to get a call from yet another complete stranger about some potentially crazy ass job.  Well, turned out I was half right.  This time it was Felix who called about a potentially crazy ass job, and an interview with a Mr. Johnson way out in Aspen.  Okay, this place is so far out in the PCC sector that it’s practically in the next country, which happens to be the Pueblo Corporate Council.</p><p>Now I’d never really pushed my battered purple Rapier really hard when I’d gotten it, but once I’d gotten some distance from the heart of Denver and opened up the throttle I felt I had finally put the old bike in its element.  During one really long straightaway I even got it up to two hundred KPH!  Got a little nervous so I eased off.  Traffic kinda helped there, too.  Maybe if you’re a stunt driver you don’t get twitchy nervous at that speed.  And being on a motorcycle’s easy to get twitchy because you don’t have a few tons of metal and fiberglass surrounding you in case things get fucked up.</p><p>Felix had told me the place for the meet was the Aspen Chalet.  I was expecting some kind of mom-and-pop burger joint, but when I was pulling into the parking lot I saw that this was a ritzy place.  Well fuck, I was really underdressed even though I was wearing all new clothes.</p><p>Yeah, after talking with Dean Tuesday about a fake ID I did some research and then went for some shopping.  I found a place well north of the Warrens to get fitted for a full ensemble of discrete body armor, as well as new boots and a few other things.  Took a day, but I think it was worth it to get a bodysuit that was practically skin tight and could stop a bullet as well as an armored vest.  Well, actually wearing an armored vest as well probably made things even better, and both were made with this SoftWeave tech that made it even less restrictive to my own body movements, and could still show off the curves I did have.  Yeah, I missed a few classes, but considering the mood I was in, kinda still am in, I didn’t give a flying fuck about that.  I needed the me time.  I was now really pushing the biker babe look with tight black leggings, black hiking boots, loose black top, and a lightweight red synthleather jacket to match my helmet.  Well, those were the colors I had chosen because Bodyline had, for a chunk more money, an option for a color changing feature to their clothes.  Right now I went with basic, solid colors without patterns and such.  Shit, the only things I was wearing that couldn’t change color were the belt that’d hold my gun at my hip and my helmet.</p><p>Security for the place was also a lot more extensive than what you’d see at your local Stuffer Shack or McHugh’s.  Actual guards stood at the door, and once I’d passed through I noticed that there was some kind of scanner built into the fake wooden frame.  Probably a metal detector.  At least they gave me no flack for having a motorcycle helmet under one arm, just some dirty looks.  And at least I showered, unlike go-gang bikers that’d be dressed worse than me.</p><p>Just ahead of me was Lucius and the others.  I guess Felix was figuring we were working out as a team.  Brick kinda waved to me, Roland and Lucius simply nodded, but Risa bounded up to me to give me a really tight hug.  That surprised me almost as much as the fact that she wasn’t wearing her mask and she had her hood down.  The host gave me a sour look when I told him I was with them, party for Johnson.  He could go fuck a rattlesnake for all I cared.</p><p>The inside was built with an open and high ceiling, angled sharply like those ski lodges you see in the trids.  The supports were all made to look like they used to be trees, and ceiling fans spun lazily to circulate the air.  Silverware chinked with plates as people ate, and there was too crazy a mix of smells to try and describe.</p><p>We were taken towards the back to a private dining room.  The host didn’t follow us in, and when he closed the door the outside noises practically disappeared.  The walls were like white stucco, with a few fake trees for support.  There were no windows but the lights made it feel like there was natural sunlight coming in.  At the center of the room was a big wooden table, stained a contrasting brownish red and large enough to seat ten people.  At the head sat a man in a blue suit.  He looked like the kind that actually made more than a token effort to stay in shape, fair of skin and with honey blond hair.  Flanking behind him were two big burly men, both in black suits and black wraparound shades.  I’d bet they were augmented.</p><p>“Please, everyone sit.” the suit, Mr. Johnson, said.  “Let’s go ahead and order food, then we can discuss the terms of the job over lunch.”  His voice was surprisingly deep, sounding smooth but giving me the feeling of the freshly waxed hood of a really used car.</p><p>What was nice about this place was that the node didn’t automatically slap you in the face with a menu ARO.  Turned out it was because this place was old fashioned.  A waiter handed out big, heavy, laminated menus to each of us.  Talk about archaic, too, since it wasn’t even e-paper where you could scroll through the list.</p><p>Despite the PCC being a largely landlocked nation there was a ton of seafood dishes, and almost as many in a more Native American flare.  I was feeling a bit more carnivorous than usual, and ordered a monster hamburger of some kind (the extras sounded interesting) which came with beer battered fries, and a glass of something called T-Bird Fuel.  Not something I’d’ve gotten away with in the CAS or UCAS sectors because of my age, but I doubt that the waiter even checked my ID.</p><p>“You sure you’re ready for something like that?” Roland asked.</p><p>Lucius chuckled.  “Might be lucky it doesn’t spontaneously combust when it gets close to her.”</p><p>Since Mr. Johnson wasn’t keen to start this right away the guys proceeded to start talking baseball and how the various teams had been doing during spring training.  I didn’t pay much attention and just sat there.</p><p>Yeah, I was still mad about the last job.  Hey, I have every right to be pissed off about it.  Any decent person would be upset about the death of a little girl, though most probably woulnd’t’ve contributed a helping hand to it.  Guess I’m not as decent as I thought I was.  That thought sure as hell didn’t make my stomach feel any better at the moment.</p><p>After some time the waiters came back with our food.  My burger was huge and looked really delicious, with a small heap of fries that weren’t skinny little toothpicks of pressed soy powder, and a squat glass with a dark brownish liquid in it reminiscent of what Dean ordered when Lucius and I went to talk to him about…</p><p>I started with the whisky.</p><p>“Might wanna take a breath first.” Roland advised.</p><p>Yeah, I considered ignoring it.  I didn’t.</p><p>I was glad, too.  This was nothing like that 40 Caliber.  The burn of alcohol was like fire down my throat, and I guess not so bad as I exhaled, feeling like a dragon breathing fire.  There was no delay in the punch to the head, either.  Yeah, I had to pay attention to my hand to make sure I didn’t spill or drop my drink.  I then turned my attention to the fries, hoping they’d be able to help soak up some of my drink.</p><p>The rest of us ate, and between bites of his own grilled salmon Mr. Johnson said, “There’s a business, an assembly plant I want action taken against.  A campaign of harassment, vandalism, and sabotage.  Anything that’ll disrupt their business operation.  I’d like you to start right away.  You’ll each be paid one thousand nuyen as a retainer and to help cover any operational costs to start, and upon completion an additional six thousand nuyen each.”</p><p>“And the people?” Lucius asked, taking a bite of his own salmon steak.</p><p>“Preferably no lethal force.” Mr. Johnson answered as I took another bite from my burger.  I was starting to feel a little sick again, and put my burger down.</p><p>“Is she alright?” Mr. Johnson asked.</p><p>“My apologies.  Some of us might be having some personal difficulties at this moment.” Lucius smoothly said, “Please, rest assured that it won’t impair our job performance against whatever business is offending you.”  Shit, he really sounded like a politician there.  I took another sip of my drink, and maybe it was because of the food, or maybe I was expecting it, but I got a lot less burn and a lot more flavor this time.  I got a smoky hint that made me think of fall campfires, and honey sweet but not overpowering at all.</p><p>“Though our work performance might be a little better focused if we weren’t distracted by… financial matters.” Lucius added.  It wasn’t the talk of money, but I think just a little time that settled my stomach enough to where I could pick up my burger to eat some more.</p><p>Mr. Johnson took a sip of his wine.  “I see.” he said thoughtfully.</p><p>“An extra ten grand could do wonders.” I grumble, reaching for my whisky for another sip.</p><p>“Incidentals like equipment we might not have accounted for.” Lucius said, “Then there’s also the occasional bribe or other such coercion.  I mean, we do come prepared and all, but we’ll want to case the target…”</p><p>Mr. Johnson held up a hand.  “Alright.  You’ve got the extra ten grand.” he told us.</p><p>I wish I knew how good of a poker face I had, but I felt my eyes bulge out at that.</p><p>“Mr. Johnson, you’ve got a deal.” Lucius said.</p><p>“Excellent.” Mr. Johnson said, lacking some enthusiasm I would’ve expected.  Or maybe it was just the booze fogging up my mind.</p><p>“Your target is Rocky Mountain Dynamics.  It’s out on Route 121 along Marston Lake.” Mr. Johnson told us.</p><p>“What the hell do they do?” asked Roland.</p><p>“They primarily manufacture electric motors for land and water vehicles.”</p><p>“And the scan is,” Lucius said, “we can pretty much do whatever to impede or cripple their operations, as long as no lethal force is used.”</p><p>“Partly, but true.” Mr. Johnson conceded.  “Theft, damage, or destruction of their inventory is not only understanding but actually expected.  However any kind of structural damage to the buildings must be avoided.  Also, do your best to avoid any environmental damage to the property.  Failing this will result in your pay being docked.”</p><p>“We could take their goods, trash their assembly lines and whatever, and we’re good?” I asked.</p><p>“As long as there’s no damage to the building and no loss of life, yes.”</p><p>I bobbed my head a little in understanding.</p><p>One of the bodyguards walked over to Lucius, producing a packet from inside his not quite properly fitting jacket.  I also noticed one of those concealed rigs holding a monster pistol just by his armpit.  Now if only Dean could come through with that ID and the permits…</p><p>“Inside you’ll find hardcopy photos of the site.  They should be rather recent.  There’s also a disposable commlink with a single preprogrammed commcode you can use to reach me.  I’ll call it if I need to have you suspend your activities.  It’s good for one week, starting Monday at midnight.  Lastly there’s a credstick for each of you inside containing your retainer.”</p><p>“Good to know our timeframe.” Lucius said.</p><p>The credsticks got passed around, and mine went into a little pocket inside my jacket.  After that we pretty much ate in silence, and when we were done we left Mr. Johnson behind with his two guards.  I managed to make it out to my bike, but instead of climbing onto it turned to sit against it instead.  I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply the sweet and clean mountain air.  Not that it stank inside the chalet, but maybe it was just getting a little too stuffy.</p><p>“Hey, you feeling alright?” I heard Lucius ask me as he walked over.</p><p>“A little dizzy, maybe.” I confessed.  My head felt like it was spinning just a little.</p><p>“Not surprising by how you put down that whisky.  That one glass has ten times the alcohol of a can of 40 Caliber.”</p><p>I closed my eyes, now trying to will the alcohol out of my system.</p><p>“And then you had a second glass.”</p><p>Wait.  What?  Oh fuck.</p><p>“Actually, Roland’s impressed that you’re still standing, let alone managed to walk out of there without even looking tipsy.”  Then his tone changed.  “But you being intoxicated wasn’t what I was asking about.”</p><p>Okay, that took me a few seconds to figure out.  “No, I’m not fuckin’ alright.” I snarled.  I glared at Lucius.  “What part of me should be alright?”</p><p>He just looked at me.  Not angry, not upset, not shocked.  Concerned, I guess, it was a little hard to tell.  “None at all.” he told me.  “We’re here to help, however we can.”</p><p>“Help?!” I practically shrieked, “How the fuck could you help?”</p><p>Lucius touched a finger to his lips, the gesture telling me I was too loud.  “Don’t know until you figure out what you need.” he said.  “But I’ve been there, where you are now.”</p><p>I closed my eyes again, trying to fight off the world as it tried to tip me over.  When I reached out to try and grab a handlebar I ended up mashing my fingers against… something.</p><p>“Alright, you’re coming with us Little Lady.” Lucius told me.  I couldn’t think… straight, or whatever, and didn’t really bother fighting him as he helped me to my feet.  He led me over to Roland’s van, and just as we got there my body convulsed.  I barely turned away in time to avoid throwing up on Lucius or the van.  Instead I hit a white sports car that was parked beside them.  Well, it was white…</p><p>“Nice shot.” Lucius said with a chuckle, “Always thought Ferrari was a little presumptuous anyway.”  He then helped me into the van.</p><p>“Gonna get crowded in here.” I heard Roland say.</p><p>“Yet she’s now in no condition to drive, even if she had a car.” Lucius told him.</p><p>I practically fell into the seat that was behind Roland’s.  I recalled there were just the four, and no back bench either.</p><p>“Scoot.” I heard Risa say, and out of pure reflex I shoved myself to the left.  There was barely enough space for tiny Risa to plop herself down in the same chair, pushing me more firmly into the arm rest.  She even took my arm and draped it over her shoulders, making herself more comfortable.</p><p>“Well, I’d say we got it covered.” Lucius said.</p><p>Roland grumbled, but didn’t complain or anything more.  I think we were just getting out of the parking lot before I found the lever to recline the seat, pushing it all the way back.  It seemed to help keep the world from spinning some.</p><p>When I opened my eyes again I was in their garage, lying on that couch by the foot of the stairs with my head pounding.  I guess I should’ve freaked out when my eyes focused on the crumpled bumper of a blue/gray/black car practically in my face, but all I did was push myself upright, groaning as things sloshed with displeasure inside my head.</p><p>When I opened my eyes again things didn’t seem so painfully bright, but still my head wanted to go round and round.  I leaned back, letting my head hit the cinderblock wall behind the couch and closed my eyes again.  They didn’t stay closed, I wouldn’t let them.</p><p>Risa was sitting on the hood of the car, hood down and no mask.  When did she get there?</p><p>“How long’ve you been there?” I asked, speaking softly.</p><p>“Hours?” she said, shrugging.  Then she slid off the car and walked over to the couch.  I really didn’t feel like moving at all, but she took my hand and started pulling me to stand up.</p><p>“Alright, alright.” I said, relenting and standing up.  I was still wobbly but I managed to stay upright as she practically pulled me into the kitchen.</p><p>Maybe it shouldn’t be called a kitchen, or a dining room (even though that’s where everyone seemed to eat), but the common room or something as it seemed that’s where we always gathered.  It was just reaffirmed by Lucius sitting at the table at his customary spot.</p><p>“Risa, I hope you didn’t rush her.” Lucius said as I shambled over to a chair and practically dropped myself into it.  I closed my eyes, wishing I could just ooze into the chair, or out of it onto the floor.  I winced as I heard a chair being drug closer to me.</p><p>“She seemed really… excited.” I softly grumbled.  I felt a hand touch my left shoulder for a little bit before sliding away.  Risa, I guess.</p><p>I heard Lucius’s chair skid on the floor, followed by footsteps over to the far side of the kitchen.  The vending machine sounded like it’d just dropped a dump truck.  After an immense amount of time that probably spanned two or three minutes I heard a glass thunk in front of me.  When I opened my eyes I saw a tall glass with some kind of clear-ish red liquid in it.  Juice?</p><p>“What is it?” I asked.</p><p>“Mostly water,” Lucius said as he sat back down, “with a hefty dose of vitamin C and some cranberry flavoring.”</p><p>I plucked the glass from the table.  It was about two thirds full so I guess unless I really tried I probably wouldn’t spill any.  I closed my eyes again as I sniffed the contents.  Kinda smelled like what I expected cranberries to smell like, so I took a drink.  I guess I was thirsty as the glass was less than a quarter full when I put it back down.</p><p>“Give it a little while, it’ll help.” Lucius told me.</p><p>“Where’re the others?” I asked.</p><p>“Recon, scoping out the site.”</p><p>“Does it get any easier?”</p><p>“Catherine?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>I heard Lucius sigh.  “Not really, no.” he finally said.</p><p>I looked at him, saw him staring blankly at the table.  “What do you do?” I asked.</p><p>He didn’t move his head, but his gaze turned to me.  “What <em>I</em> do is stew about it, thinking, playing it in my head over and over again, pouring over every little detail I can think of and wondering if there’s anything I could’ve done differently that would’ve made things turn out differently.  All until I finally come to grips with how it really turned out.”  He looked away before adding, “But that’s me.  It’s not the same for everyone.  And honestly drinking isn’t a good coping mechanism.”</p><p>“Oh.” I softly said.  “I thought it got easier.  You all didn’t seem bothered…”</p><p>Lucius slammed a fist down on the table.  At first I thought I’d really pissed him off, but his expression softened almost right away as he relaxed.  “We’re all bothered.  Maybe we didn’t show it, maybe you didn’t notice, but we are.”  He looked back to me before continuing, “Roland buried himself in working on his drones, Risa spent at least a day crying in her room, and I’m sure you noticed Brick’s handy work when you woke up.”</p><p>“Wait, the car?” I asked, pointing towards it through the cinderblock wall.</p><p>Lucius nodded.  “Brick took it easy at first.  Just for a walk to be alone in his thoughts.  Didn’t see the car, driver didn’t see him, doesn’t matter.  Brick almost got hit, he exploded, and punched it.”</p><p>Brick’s fist did that?  Oh fuck.</p><p>“At least he wasn’t this troll I knew, worked with for a little while.” Lucius said, “He was a lot shorter than the average, but he was broad, arms and legs thick and bulging with muscles.  Saw him punch a parked car so hard that it thought it was in an accident, dropped the engine and deployed all of the airbags.”</p><p>“Honest to ghost?”</p><p>“Chip true, that’s the scan.”</p><p>My head felt woozy again, and I wasn’t sure if it was the leftover booze or the thought of what that troll could do to a person.</p><p>“Hey, you okay there?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Just…  Dizzy, a little.”  I took the glass and downed the rest of the fruit flavored water.  When you don’t have a lot of money set aside for food you don’t often get the real stuff.</p><p>“Is there anything else we can do?  About her, I mean.”</p><p>“We can try to find out who really did it.” Lucius said, “But it’s way too soon for us to get anything.  Oh, sure, the cops have their labs and tests and all, and they might find the shooter anyway.  But if not, well, it might take some time to filter through the shadows before anyone we know hears something.  It’ll be hard, but we’ve gotta be patient.  Sometimes karma circles back to bite that kind of person in the ass.”</p><p>“I’d rather kick that ass to the moon.” I confessed.  Lucius smiled a little, which helped me smile just a little.</p><p>“Feeling better?” Risa asked.</p><p>“Yeah, a little.” I admitted.</p><p>“So, hopefully you can set aside last week’s debacle so we can focus on this job.” Lucius said, “And no, not asking you to forget it at all.  Something will happen, and we’ll do all we can to be there.”</p><p>“Null sheen, I guess.  I’m with it.”</p><p>“Right.” Lucius said, “Well, it might be a while before Roland and Brick get back, so why not relax, try to get in a catnap or something."</p><p>“Thanks,” I said, slowly standing, “but I got a few games I could probably spend some time in.  Don’t really feel like trying to sleep.”</p><p>“Go ahead and use the same room, if you like.” Lucius told me.</p><p>“Thanks.” I replied.  I walked slowly out of the kitchen, still a little unsure about my balance.  I kept a hand on the wall, then the railing as I went upstairs.</p><p>The room I’d stayed in last week looked like it was pretty much untouched since I was here last.  I’m not a total slob and had cleaned up a little before leaving last time.  Still, something about it felt a little comfortable, maybe familiar, as I pulled down the hideaway bed to lie down.  I took off my jacket and boots, which I had been wearing still, and dumped them on the floor before lying down.  With a few mental clicks I accessed the list of games I had, chose the new one I had just bought two days ago, and launched it.  There was the typical preemptive warning about the game’s content and stuff, and that it was exclusively VR, all of which I had to click [Yes] to before it fully launched.  It wasn’t exactly a new game, a remake of a remake kind of thing.  Big difference was that I didn’t need a keyboard and a 2D flat screen to play; somewhere along the line it got updated for virtual reality, including the various metatypes, and even letting you play as a woman.  I chose human for my first playthrough.</p><p>I was just wrapping up the third mission, dropping down on the head of a possessed marine and stomping its demonic brains out with a heavily armored boot when a popup appeared in my H.U.D. saying I had a new message.  Once I hit the checkpoint for the save I exited the game.  It was from Lucius, and the others were back.</p><p>There’s a drawback to being in VR for a long time.  There’s a safety feature built into the SIM module that lets you experience the computer worlds, a… reticulation override or something like that, that keeps you from thrashing about in the real world.  Problem is that it’s not like how your body lays still when you’re sleeping, as you’ll still twitch, toss, and turn when you’re dreaming.  The SIM module keeps you dead still, which can lead to kinks and sore muscles and the like when you come back to reality.  I’m told a lot of those security hackers, the “White Hats” will be lying in fancy recliners that’ll help massage their bodies and shit like that while they’re in VR for those ten to twelve hour work days.</p><p>So I took my time loosening myself back up, rolling my shoulders and such.  My head was feeling better, too.  I put my boots back on, but slung my jacket over one shoulder as I headed back to the meeting room.  I mean, the kitchen.</p><p>It was just Lucius and Risa there.</p><p>“I thought it might be, you know, planning time or something.” I said.</p><p>“Got a message from Roland.” Lucius told me, “Figures they need some extended time to recon the place.  He’s also working on breaking into their network as well.”</p><p>“So where’s that leave us?” I asked.</p><p>“Out for a bite of dinner, if you’re up for it.” Lucius said, “And we’re going to meet a friend.”</p><p>“Might as well.”</p><p>Well, going out for dinner turned out to be going to some little greasy spoon joint called the Jaguar’s Lair.  It was one of those few holdout places from the old Aztlan days of the neighborhood, on the corner of South Colorado and Evans, and just about within spitting distance of I-25.  I’d only heard of the place, while a few people I knew had actually been there.  It truly was a truck stop diner, with an oversized parking lot in the back for those big trucks with one really long trailer or a pair of them.</p><p>Lucius parked his car around front.  The air was rather calm now, cooling in the shadows of the Rockies, and boy did it stink with diesel exhaust.  An old fashioned bell on a coiled spring jingled as we walked in, and were immediately assaulted with the smells of various dinners, all spicy with Aztlan flair.  There was no host, so we simply walked back to an empty booth and sat down.  Lucius took the side angled with a view of the door while Risa and I took the other bench.</p><p>At least this place was more up with the times and had ARO menus to read.  “Food’s not all that great here, so order small.” Lucius advised.</p><p>We had barely placed our orders for food when another guy came over to us and sat down next to Lucius.</p><p>“Hey, how’s the hunt?” asked Dean Costello, looking at me.</p><p>“Not good.” I grumbled.</p><p>Okay, and another strange thing.  Risa hadn’t been wearing her mask until we sat down, had put it on then, but had taken it back off just before Dean sat down.  She did seem really sheepish, too, trying to get some sideways looks at him without, like, trying to get caught looking.  Yeah, he’s a bit of a pretty boy, but something about him rubs me wrong.</p><p>“He knows?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Yeah.  I asked him.  Told me the same thing you did:  Wait.”</p><p>“There was more than just that.” Dean added, his gaze now not really fixed on any of us but probably on an ARO menu only he could see, “But I’ll let her decide if she wants you to know.”</p><p>“And you do remember why we’re meeting?” Lucius asked, though it sounded a lot more like a statement.</p><p>“Of course,” Dean said, mocking offense.  “There’s a certain factory off the one-twenty-one that you’re interested in.”</p><p>“That be it.” Lucius said, “Already know they make electric motors, generators, and parts for them, and for some of the electric model cars and drones out on the market.  And maybe the other family has an interest, too.”</p><p>Wow, I really didn’t expect Lucius to spill all that.  Well, maybe some of that was common knowledge.  Maybe I should brush up on my search-fu?</p><p>Dean grinned.  “Oh yeah, Emilio Chavez is a real choomba with the plant manager.  There’s a certain rush they both crave, mostly from speed.  I’d say they’re addicted to it.”</p><p>“Just how sure are you of this?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Word is that Emilio got himself a really nice electric racing bike, something really fast on the flat top too.”</p><p>A waitress stopped by, delivering food to all of us, Dean included (which looked more like a little dessert).</p><p>“So… what about this Emilio guy?” I asked, looking more at my food, a pair of enchiladas drizzled with some kind of red sauce that looked a lot like ketchup.  Thankfully they weren’t as big as some other places I’ve been at, and at those places you could actually see the veggies in the sauce.</p><p>“A little curious about the guy?” Dean asked slyly.  When I looked at him I saw him grinning a little.  I was not amused.  I think I might’ve cut off a bite of an enchilada a little bit viciously.</p><p>Dean coughed.  “Well, seriously he’s at the Lakeside Amusement Park a lot, but being the son of Omar Chavez does have some perks.” he told us.  “I understand you’ve already met him.”</p><p>“Once, and it was enough.” I said just before taking a bite of my enchilada.  Overall it was basically bland, crumbly, and so light on the spices I could barely even taste them.</p><p>“Oh, hey, don’t get me wrong, Omar’s a decent enough of a guy.” Dean said, “But he is the head of the family here, reporting only to the don down in Dallas, and in that kind of business you’ve got to be a real hard ass.</p><p>“But Emilio’s a different sort.  Besides a speed addict he’s a bit of a hothead, and daddy’s really disappointed in him.  Word is the family’s hoping for a tragic accident.”</p><p>“I’ve seen that in enough of those romance trids I sit through with my friends.” I said.</p><p>“So your typical rich kid bad boy.” Lucius said, taking a bite of his own meal.  “What about the other guy?”</p><p>“Sorry, all I’ve got is a name:  Erik Fjordson.” Dean admitted.</p><p>“Thought you’d know more than that.” I said.</p><p>“Sadly, Princess, I don’t know everything.” Dean told me.  “Maybe I’d know who killed Dunkelzahn if I did.”  Then he gave us a shit eating grin.</p><p>Things pretty much devolved after that, with the guys largely talking about baseball, all to pass the time while we finished our food.  After we were done Dean went off to go on a date with someone and the rest of us went our own way.</p><p>“There’s something I should tell you about the next place.” Lucius said as he pulled out onto Colorado Boulevard.</p><p>“It another sleaze pit?” I asked, looking off to the side to watch the scenery go by.</p><p>“Well, it is a pit.” Lucius said, “And it’s also a bar.  They’re usually pretty chill about kids, so you should be okay in there, Risa.  But I think you both ought to avoid the liquor.”</p><p>“Yeah, don’t feel like decorating another car.” I muttered.</p><p>“Ah, so you do remember that.”</p><p>Okay, so when Lucius said the place was a pit he wasn’t being facetious.  We had to walk down a broad flight of stairs at the side of a building just to get to the huge front door.  After we walked in it was another few steps down just to get to the floor.  On the plus side if any of us were a troll there’d’ve been plenty of space and no need to duck.  Kinda ironic that the place was called the Dwarven Moonshiner.  There were some booths at the walls to the left and right, and those on the left were built from trolls.  Scattered about the floor were probably another dozen tables, mostly smaller ones to seat four regular sized people.  A lot of wood was used, from the floors to the furniture and even the pillars that looked like were holding up the building above us.  There was some music playing, something from the 40s I think, and not too loudly too.  It was well packed with people and it looked like the wait staff was busy.  There was even a nice smell in the air, cooking food that made me think of nachos and grilled hamburgers.</p><p>“Over by the bar, guy in the rumpled blue and balding brown hair.” Lucius said, taking the lead to walk over to him.</p><p>“Who and why?” I asked.</p><p>“Guy I know, might know something that could help us.” he answered, “You two take the seats to his right.”</p><p>By the looks of things I’d rather we didn’t split up, and I’d rather not sit by someone that looked like a middle aged drip looking to go through a second midlife crisis.  But I sat on the stool to his right anyway, and Risa took the spot to my right.  I noticed he noticed me, giving me that once over undersesxed guys do, and it gave me a greasy feeling.</p><p>“Hey Dave.” Lucius loudly said, and the man practically jumped out of his own skin.  “I’d seriously consider thinking about a cybernetic hand if you’re even pondering a feel of her ass.”</p><p>“Hey, Will.” grumbled Dave, looking over to Lucius.</p><p>I idly listened as I accessed an ARO menu for the place.  I placed an order for a plate of nachos, which was slated for a base of chips and cheese.  I added ground beef, beans, guacamole, and sour cream.  I didn’t feel like anything spicy right now.</p><p>“And what makes you think I know anything about this guy?” Dave asked.</p><p>“Because we know each other,” Lucius said, “I know who you work for, and you’ll hear things, read things, et cetera.”</p><p>Dave sighed.</p><p>“Look, I already know he’s a manager at a manufacturing facility,” Lucius told him, “but that’s about it.  Looking to see if there’s anything more about him that might be useful.  Next drink’s on me.”</p><p>They made their arrangements, and a bartender put a shot glass before Dave and filled it with what looked like water.  I couldn’t read the label of the bottle the man used, but if I had to guess it was Russian writing, so it was probably vodka.</p><p>But Dave didn’t touch it.</p><p>“Something wrong?” Lucius asked.</p><p>Dave sighed, and actually shoved it away.  Towards me.</p><p>“You’re new.” Dave said, glaring at me.  “Don’t go thinkin’ I don’t know what he does,” he jabbed a thumb at Lucius, “or that you’re with him.”</p><p>Okay, was this guy already a bit too drunk?  The guy looked all flesh and blood, so I figured that cybernetic hand comment was supposed to be a threat of some kind that I’d rip it off if he grabbed me.  Well, I’d at least try, and you know it.  Seriously, that’d mean that I was with him right when we sat down.</p><p>The bartender walked back over to us to set my plate of nachos before me.  Okay, I thought I had ordered a small plate, but this looked like a lot more.  Now maybe if I was the size of your average ork girl…</p><p>“Right, what’s the scan?” I asked Dave, glaring back at him, “What do you want of me?”  Hope he was sober enough for something that blunt.</p><p>Dave eyed me hard, then his gaze jumped to the shot glass and back to me again.</p><p>“Seriously?” I asked, not even taking my eyes off of him.</p><p>Dave just stared at me.</p><p>Hey, I downed two glasses of some potent alcohol earlier today, some of which came up to take a bow.</p><p>“Don’t think trying to get her drunk’s gonna work for you, Dave.” Lucius said, “She’s had strong stuff like that before.”</p><p>Thank you, Lucius, for the tip.</p><p>Without even taking my eyes off of Dave I grabbed the shot glass, inhaled as I brought it to my mouth, and downed it in one gulp.  Man did it burn, and I blew it out through clenched teeth.  I gave the bar a nice rap with the shot glass as I brought it back down, like I’ve seen in the trids when two people are in a drinking game.</p><p>“What’d you think?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“It’s vile.  I’d rather have another glass of T-Bird Fuel.” I said offhandedly, turning to my nachos.  Chips and ground beef and oozing with cheese.  I made sure my first bite had all of that plus a bit of the guacamole and sour cream.  Now this was food.</p><p>Lucius chuckled pretty hard.  Dave just stared at me, some kind of incredulous look.</p><p>“Now don’t think she’ll be going home with either of us just because <em>I</em> bought you that drink.” Lucius said.  “Now why don’t you spill what you know, and maybe, just maybe I’ll buy you another.  As long as <em>you</em> drink it.”</p><p>Dave turned his gaze back to his own drink.  “You’re right that he’s the general manager.  Been there two years.  Used to work for Ares as an engineering manager before that.”</p><p>“Doesn’t sound like much to go on.” Lucius said.</p><p>“He does party a lot, and likes to bike race too.” Dave added.  “Got wind from a friend at Lakeside.  Supposedly did some combat biking back in his college days.”</p><p>“No rush like getting shot at while racing on a bike.” Lucius commented.</p><p>“And now if you’ll excuse me…” Dave said, standing up with a good shove from the bar.  Once he had vacated the seat Lucius scooted over.</p><p>“So, Little Lady, what’ve you figured out from all this tonight?” he asked.</p><p>I gestured to let him give me a minute, partly because I wanted to chew my food but also I wanted a bit of time to think.</p><p>Right after I swallowed I said, “The place’s got some protection from the family.  We’ll have them coming down on our asses after a hit or two.”</p><p>“Very good,” Lucius said, “though I’m sure that concept’s also been on some trids for years.”</p><p>“We’re not stopping this one.” I said.  I honestly didn’t think something like this would.  Especially not after the last one.</p><p>“Hardly,” Lucius said, “but it does mean we have to be careful.”</p><p>After I’d eaten (with some welcomed help from Risa), my stomach feeling better from the nachos than the shitty enchiladas, we were off again.  This time it was to a McHugh’s that was barely on the PCC side of West Belliview Avenue, which was like two blocks away from a DocWagon hospital.  One of their helicopters was taking off when we pulled into the parking lot next to Roland’s van.  We all got out and I leaned against the door to Lucius’s car while Risa sat on the hood to my left.</p><p>“Right, so, what’ve we got?” Roland asked.</p><p>“The short of it is that Fjordson’s a speed freak and really buddied up with Emilio Chavez.” Lucius said.  “The family’s apparently got a vested interest in the place.  You guys get any more?”</p><p>Brick was the one that answered.  “Highways’re Godz turf.  They got a hand with smugglin’ ‘n guides.  Then there’s the Dambusters ‘n Zombies that ride the highways ‘round.”</p><p>“Sounds like our good pal Erik’s got some extra protection.” Lucius said.  “That could pose a problem.  We’ve got two possible lanes to Hell in this.”</p><p>“Only if we get caught with our britches down.” Roland said.</p><p>“Not like you guys can’t handle them.” I said.</p><p>“Half a dozen, okay.” Brick said, “A few dozen, nuh uh.”</p><p>I bobbed my head in agreement.</p><p>“So, you’ve been staking out the place and all,” Lucius said to Roland, “you got any ideas?”</p><p>“I managed to get into their network and got a copy of their shipments in and out for the next week.” Roland said.  “We hijack a select few and we can fuck ‘em up and make some extra cred in the process.  We do it right we won’t even have to try to sneak in.”</p><p>“Hijacking’s gonna be easier?” I asked.</p><p>“The Godz?” Risa asked.</p><p>“Yeah, I’d wager they’d be at least keeping an eye out on those trucks.” Lucius said.  “And then there’s the other security they’ll likely have.”</p><p>“Which’s why I managed to get this little baby made up.” Roland said, pulling out a small drone from a jacket pocket.  It quite literally looked like a dragonfly, but it had four little propeller drives at the end of its spindly wings.  “A low power laser that’s more than enough to cut a car’s paneling and it’s outfitted with a quality radio signal scanner.  It can sneak around inside to find the RFID tags.  And before you ask, yes, even the stealth tags.  They were so kind to leave those codes available in their network.”</p><p>I started feeling a little queasy in my stomach again.  Okay, vandalism and otherwise making a factory stop working for a day or three was one thing, but now these guys were talking felonies, grand theft auto and the like.</p><p>“And our cut if we pull it off?” Lucius asked.  Of course he’d be seriously considering this.</p><p>“Seventy-five hundred nuyen a piece, at best.” Roland answered.</p><p>“Mr. Johnson did say we could help ourselves to the loot.” Brick said.</p><p>“And two or three hijackings, if we can time it close enough…” Lucius pondered thoughtfully.</p><p>“Biggest risk, since we’ve got cops, Godz, and the Chavez family to have to worry about,” Roland said, “but three jobs could net us each nearly twenty-five thousand extra nuyen, on top of the sixteen thousand Mr. Johnson’s payin’ us once we’re done.”</p><p>“And I suppose you’ve already got things lined up?” Lucius asked.</p><p>Roland grinned.  All he was missing was a fat cigar to hold between his teeth.  “Targets, routes, and I got a few fences who’re ready to receive the loot.  We hit outbound traffic for bigger pay and the delays.  Should get us what Johnson wants.”  He paused before asking, “She gonna be alright?  Lookin’ kinda green.”</p><p>“This isn’t quite what I was expecting.” I admitted.</p><p>“What?  Thought we’d just throw eggs and TP the place?” Roland asked.  “This is the real world, not some grade school prank.”</p><p>Lucius held up a hand, gesturing for Roland to stop.  “Stuff like this is happening all over a lot.” he told me.  “Some company announces that they’re having production delays?  Could be a shadowrunner team stole a shipment of crucial materials coming in.”</p><p>“Or uploaded a sabotage virus into their network.” Roland added.</p><p>Fuck.  Fuck them both.  No, not really.  But…  Shit, they were making sense.</p><p>“Besides, we don’t have to kill the drivers.” Lucius added.  “They might get hurt, but we can let them go afterwards.”</p><p>I sighed.  “Fine.  Who’s getting screwed first?” I asked.</p><p>“There’s a shipment to a Nissan plant up in the Sioux district that leaves tomorrow afternoon.” Roland said, pocketing his little dragonfly drone.</p><p>I took a deep breath and sighed again, smelling the stink of auto exhaust and cheap soy food.  When I looked up I saw the McHugh’s logo sign way above us, sitting high to be seen from the international highway.  Something hit me and I started laughing.</p><p>“What’s so funny?” Lucius asked.  I noticed the others were giving me a strange look.</p><p>“Are all jobs like this?” I asked, “Planned in the parking lot of a kid’s fast food joint?”</p>
<hr/><p>I stayed overnight at their garage, again.  The next morning I walked down to the large open floor to do a morning workout routine.  With more light this time I was able to tell that the wrecked car I’d seen the day before was a dark blue in color.  Part way through a tumbling routine I noticed I had an audience.  Roland was standing just in the archway to his room, watching me.</p><p>“Enjoying the show?” I asked.</p><p>“Was told you could run up walls.” Roland said.</p><p>I smirked, and applied a touch of power as I ran for the wall beside him.  A few running steps toward him, then straight up the wall and over the guard rail on the floor above.  I didn’t even have to vault the rail, just lightly stepping on it to go over and land on the floor above.</p><p>“You know there’s the stairs, right?” Lucius asked.  He had just come out of his room off to my left.</p><p>“Just showing off a little.” I replied.</p><p>“Ya got something fancy for coming back down?” Roland called out from where he was still standing.  Lucius also gave me an expectant look.</p><p>I shook my head.  Well, might as well show off some more.  I crouched down and launched myself into a back flip, vaulting clear over the guard rail, flipped completely over with no twist, and stuck my landing so well it’d make an Olympic gymnast jealous.  Especially since it wasn’t a padded mat but hard concrete I landed on.</p><p>“Great.  Now let’s see you fly.” Roland gruffly said before walking into the kitchen.</p><p>Well, that was something I could do too.  I ignored him and instead went back to finishing up my workout.  Overall it didn’t take that much time, but I’m not quite as adherent as some kids that’re trying for the gold medals next year.</p><p>Over breakfast we made our plans.  My part was simple, I was to be a lookout, a rear guard while Roland hacked into the truck.  Once the driver was out, likely scared to shit by one of Risa’s spirits, Lucius would take over and drive the rig.</p><p>“Right then,” Roland said once we all had our parts, “let’s take a look at that bike of yours.”</p><p>“My bike?  Why?” I asked.</p><p>“‘Cause I know my van’s woirkin’ just fine.” Roland told me, “I do maintenance on it.  Last time I heard your bike it was runnin’ rough.”</p><p>“So it takes a bit to get going…” I started to say.</p><p>“And it could get us in trouble when ya need it most.” Roland interjected.  “No, we’re gonna give it a once over, a tune up, and we’re gonna make sure that pretty ass of yours isn’t hung up for all to see.”  And with that he went out the door to the garage floor.</p><p>“Better do as he says.” Lucius said with a shrug.  “My car’s been running better since I met him, let him do some maintenance and all.”</p><p>I sighed, shrugged, and followed the little guy out.</p><p>We didn’t exactly work in the garage.  Roland opened the middle door so we could put my bike just by it.  He said it was for the exhaust so we wouldn’t stink up the place.  It took me several tries to get it running.  He had a very sour look on his face as he stared at my bike, just looking and listening.  A few times he had me rev the engine, but otherwise he just stared at it.</p><p>Finally he broke his silence.  “Just relax and let it run.” he told me just before walking off.</p><p>I started off by leaning against the door frame.  After a while I ended up sliding down to sit on the ground.  The sun had been up for hours now and was warming everything around.  Felt kinda nice with the doors facing south.  There was just a little breeze to kick around the smells of the city, of concrete and hot asphalt.</p><p>Later Roland came back with a big black pan and several jugs of oil in his hands.  He dropped the pan and kicked it part way under my bike.  Then he collected the oil jugs and set them to one side.</p><p>“Bet you got no idea when you last changed the oil on that thing.” he said.</p><p>“Haven’t had it four months yet.” I replied.</p><p>“That’s part of your problem right there.” Roland told me.  “I know you got it used, and it sounds like you ain’t had it checked out.”</p><p>I wasn’t going to dignify that with a response.</p><p>“Bet she runs just fine after a while, right?” Roland asked.  When I didn’t answer right away he added, “C’mon, be honest.  No use cryin’ over what’s what.”</p><p>“Yeah, it does.” I admitted.</p><p>“Well, that should be long enough.” Roland said, “Shut her down.”</p><p>I took my time in getting up to my feet and walking around my bike.  It died easily when I switched it off.</p><p>“Right, now to see how bad the damage is.” grunted Roland as he squatted down next to my bike.  I watched as he pulled out a wrench and started working on some bolt at the bottom of my bike.  He used piers to take it the last few turns, and out poured what looked like hot chocolate syrup.</p><p>“Yup, thought so.” Roland said.  “You ever seen real maple syrup?”  When I shook my head he said, staring at the dark sludge that poured out of my bike like its life blood, he added, “Well, that oil there should be next to clear, slightly golden.  When it looks like soykaf thick enough to hold a spoon it’s really burnt.  Makes the engine work harder ‘cause it ain’t lubed properly.”  He grunted and continued, “Will have to check out everything, but that’ll have to wait till after today’s gig.”</p><p>“Everything?  Like what?” I asked.</p><p>“Oil filter, fuel filter, spark plugs.” Roland rattled off.</p><p>I felt my stomach sink.</p><p>Roland was gruff, curt, but at least not condescending as we simply changed the oil on my bike.  Actually, I did most of the work.  He just told me what to do where, and had brought up an AR user’s guide to help me along.  After some time my bike was loaded up with clean oil (I saw what he meant about the maple syrup thing as I poured it in), and had my bike up and running again.  It didn’t seem to protest starting up as much this time, though I do wonder if it was still warm enough to have done that anyway.  We were pretty much on time to get going to hijack a shipment, too.</p><p>We hit the border crossing on Hampden, and I have no idea if it was just fucking good luck or what but a big semi truck with a long trailer rumbled past us on the 121 just as we got to the intersection.  If we turned left we’d go south to the RMD plant.  Naturally we turned to follow the rig.</p><p>I think someone said something about plans not lasting the first minute, or something like that, because it certainly wasn’t in our minds that, after passing a few intersections, the semi would start weaving back and forth like the driver had suddenly downed a bottle of Hurlg (I’m told it’s at least twice as potent as T-Bird Fuel).  I was in for a real surprise when the driver’s side door flew open and the driver bailed out while it was still moving!</p><p>Hitting the accelerator I weaved around Roland’s van to catch up to the big truck.  The door was still flopping open on it as it rolled on.  It was a pretty tall truck, with a big flat nose, and on a set of six wheels that might look kinda strange set so close together as they were.  I didn’t really think when I glanced at truck, the road ahead, and planted a foot on my bike to jump the gap to it.  Now when you hear about adepts pulling off crazy shit like this, believe it.  I probably made it look easy.</p><p>Kids, don’t try this at home.</p><p>So, my first time inside the cab of one of these things, and boy do they have the space and all.  The driver’s seat was practically a barcalounger or something, it was huge and plush.  Shit, I could’ve been an ork and still have wiggle room.  And that was when I realized I hadn’t a fucking clue how to drive one of these things!  A steering wheel is kinda self evident for those who’ve ever driven a car before, and maybe for some who haven’t.  Fortunately I have driven a car a few times, and found the pedals but also another complication.</p><p>There were three!  What the fuck?</p><p>Okay, I had to try and calm myself, and a dumbass blaring his horn at me didn’t help either when he passed going the other way.  I tried to think of this logically, and lightly pressed down on the right most pedal.  I felt the engine power up some, so I had guessed right that was the gas.  Right, so the middle or the left one should be the break.  But which one?</p><p>Well, I grabbed hold of the wheel and planted my feet down on both the left and middle pedals as hard as I could.  I learned a few things doing that.</p><p>One, I figured the middle pedal was the break from how it felt as I put all my weight into it, giving some resistance as I tried to get that fucking big truck stopped.</p><p>Two, this big truck didn’t have antilock brakes.</p><p>After a subjective eternity the truck finally came to a stop.  I kept my feet on the pedals as I tried to melt into the seat.  Now I started to wonder what the fuck happened.</p><p>“Hey there, Little Lady.” Lucius said, suddenly appearing just outside the door.  Yeah, I freaked, practically jumped out of my skin.  And on top of that the truck lurched forward and threw me into the back of the seat.  I thought it was going to take off again, but the engine made an awful noise and a whole bunch of lights around the dash started lighting up.</p><p>“No half measures, eh?” Lucius asked.  Before I could answer he said, “Scoot over.  We need to get this moving.”</p><p>There was a huge gap between the two chairs in the cab, and it looked like whoever designed this had intended it to be easy to switch seats.  I also noticed there was a pretty good space behind the chairs, too.</p><p>Lucius clearly knew what he was doing as we both sat down in our chairs.  Just off to his right was a long stick which he kinda wiggled or threw into position, pushed down on a button by the wheel, and I could both hear and feel the engine start cranking over again.  It seemed to take a little to get going, but it started up a hell of a lot easier than my Rapier did.</p><p>“Oh shit!  My bike!” I said aloud.</p><p>“It’s a little scuffed up, but I don’t think you’d notice.” Lucius told me.  “We stopped long enough for Brick to toss it in the back of the van.”  He gave me a sideways glance and grinned.  “No, seriously, he handled it nicely.”</p><p>Whew, okay.  With as much shit as we’ve done, and I know it’s not even been a month, but I believed him.  Felt nice that they actually were sticking by me, but I also felt a bit like shit for how much they’ve done too.</p><p>“So, what happened?” I asked, pulling my helmet off.  I watched him handle the controls (he certainly knew what he was doing) as we followed Roland’s van to wherever we were going.</p><p>“Truck’s a lot older than we anticipated.  Roland couldn’t hack it.” Lucius told me.  “So Risa said she’d take care of it.  I think she had a spirit scare the driver out of the cab.”</p><p>“Wouldn’t be surprised if he crapped his pants.” I said with a slight grin.  Looking back it did seem kinda funny.  And holy shit did we get lucky that nobody got hurt.</p><p>A good while later, and likely somewhere way off course from where the truck was supposed to go, Roland led us into what looked like a junk yard for cars.  We’d gone way, way west, and when I checked the map in my commlink the GPS put me in a neighborhood called Golden.  Actually we weren’t too far from Aspen where we got the job yesterday.  After Lucius parked the truck we both got out.  The place also kinda stank of motor oils, that dusty smell you get with iron, and the real rank smell of sun baked rubber tires.</p><p>“This what you promised me, Roland?” I heard a woman ask.  When I turned to look at her I saw my first Amerindian dwarf.  I guess it shouldn’t surprise me since metatypes don’t give a shit about nationalities most times, but unless you’re completely immersed in it some shit just surprises you.</p><p>“Yeah, this’s it.” Roland said, walking over to talk with the other dwarf.  I half listened as the two talked, walking over to the back of the semi trailer.  Glancing over there I did see three other large guys join them, their attention on the dwarves and trailer.</p><p>“Now we sit and wait.” Lucius said.  “Not sure how much time this’ll take.”</p><p>While we waited Brick pulled out my battered Rapier motorcycle.  It was still intact, relatively, but the paint job on the left side had taken a good beating.  If it was my skin it would’ve been torn up something pretty badly.  I think a friend of mine from high school called it a ‘raspberry’ and they sound painful.</p><p>I think it was about two hours later of relative boredom when Roland finally came walking over to us.  “Alright, it’s payday time.” he called to us.  I honestly felt a little ridiculous, like a pig to a feed bar, as we walked over to him.  He gave us each a silver marked credstick.</p><p>“We got a little bit lucky this time.  Wasn’t one of their standard fleet trucks so we got a little more for it.  Lookin’ at nine grand for each of you there.”</p><p>I almost said something about the truck probably being worth a lot more than the forty-five grand that got split between us, but I remembered what he had said yesterday, about how much we’d get for the three hijackings.  Guess there’s a huge markup or something.  Still I wasn’t gonna complain about the cred on the chip.</p><p>From there we went our separate ways.  I went back to my home on campus, stashed the new credsticks with the other two that still had money on them, changed my clothes, and went on about things as if it were a normal Sunday.  I’ll admit I was missing the relative quiet of what was becoming my room at the garage when the guy next door started up his porno again.  How often does a guy have to masturbate anyway?  Disgusting.</p><p>Monday seemed to roll by at a snail’s pace.  All my classes were pretty dull on top of some of the boring.  Only the psychology one seemed to be of any real interest, and of course was the one that went by the quickest.  Sometime that afternoon I had gotten a text from Dean, and though it wasn’t anything about Catherine he did have something for me.  We met up outside of a rather seedy bar/club called Goodfriends.  I had ended up getting there first, so I sat on my bike and waited for Dean to show up.  I had parked about in the middle of two larger groups that were outside, at one end was a truck blaring out some pretty harsh goblin orxrock that was more that heavy growl metal from a century ago (one of my friends is into the classics).  At the other end was a fast paced technosynth.</p><p>Thankfully I didn’t have to wait too long.  A really nice looking sports car, a dark magenta in color, pulled right up to me on its right.  At first I thought I was going to have to tell the driver to fuck off, that I wasn’t some joygirl, when the blacked out window slid down and I saw Dean sitting in the driver’s seat.  He didn’t say anything as I got off my bike, pulling my helmet off before lifting up the door to get in.  The window was already closed by the time I pulled the door closed.  Thankfully a lot of the noise went away so we could actually talk without having to yell.</p><p>“You’re really ready to do this?” Dean asked, “This isn’t like that simple little fake Rhonda Lewis ID you’ve got.  This is a full on, complete biometric workup and everything tailored for you.  You’re someone else, completely different.”</p><p>“Why’re you telling me this?” I asked.  Shit was stuff I knew because that’s what I’d asked him to get.</p><p>“Because this isn’t just some fake to get you past the bouncer at a bar,” Dean told me, “you’re committing yourself to being like them, like Lucius and Roland.  It’s a major felony in all four countries here.  It’s not going to be easy walking back into the light.”</p><p>“Why’re you telling me this?” I asked again.</p><p>“Pretty young thing like you, I’d hate to see you throw it all away.” Dean told me.</p><p>I gave pretty boy Dean a sideways glare.  Then I looked out the window the other way.  I heard a muffled scream and laughter, and watched as a big guy picked up a smaller woman, hefting her over his shoulder like a sack of soybeans, but figured it was more fun and games from the smile on her face and how she playfully beat on his back as he carried her off like some caveman conquest.</p><p>“I know I don’t have to ask.  You’re still feeling responsible for her.” Dean said tenderly.  “This isn’t some magic key to get you what you want.”</p><p>“I…  I feel like I gotta do something.  Like, without it I won’t get anywhere, get any answers.” I said.</p><p>“Right, well, enough of that.” Dean told me, and I was grateful for it.  “You’ve had enough time to think on this.  But out of curiosity, why this particular name?”</p><p>“Why the questions all a sudden?” I asked, turning back to look at him.</p><p>“Just looking to get to know you a little better.” was Dean’s answer.</p><p>“Dream all you want, you’re not getting in bed with me.”</p><p>“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” he exclaimed, holding up both hands in surrender.  “I got the scan two weeks ago.  No, not with you, I get it.  Besides, I got myself a girl already.  Probably the best thing that’s happened to me.  No, I’m talking about something you might think is just as personal, but not that kind of personal.  You, the real, you, what makes you tick and all that.  I’m not looking for nudes or sex, but I’d like to know you a little better without the armor, the man hate.”  I looked away.</p><p>“It’s a vibe I get from a lot of guys.” I said, “I know I’m attractive, and I know my choice in clothes doesn’t exactly hide all that much, but fuck it I’ll wear what I want to, what I like.”</p><p>“Fine by me, but hopefully you’ll learn how to filter out an honest compliment with no other intent and the pickup line.  Or maybe you’re just not into guys?”</p><p>That got a bit of a chuckle out of me.  “No,” I said in a much softer tone, “I’m… kinda into guys.”</p><p>“How old were you?”</p><p>“What?”  I stared at Dean.</p><p>It was a serious question the way Dean was asking.  “How old were you when you first made love?  I swear it doesn’t go beyond us.”</p><p>I thought about this, turning to look back out the window and the crowds outside.  I felt a little sick about this, but figured what the hell?  “I was eleven.  He was almost thirteen.  My parents didn’t approve of him.”</p><p>“Can’t say any father’d approve of the boy having sex with his little princess.”</p><p>That brought a wry smile to my face.  “They never knew about that.” I told him.  “No, it’s because his parents were Italian.  He had nice skin, dark curly hair.  Real pretty to look at.”</p><p>“Sounds almost like your typical, comely Mediterranean.”</p><p>“Yeah, I guess.”</p><p>“Hey, nothing wrong with us Italians, Sicilians, and anyone else from around the Med.”</p><p>“Fuck no!  Nothing at all!  I don’t give a shit about shit like that!”  I took a few breaths to try and calm myself down.  “I don’t have any proof about it, but I’m sure my parents… arranged… something, I’m sure of it.  A few weeks later he moved away and I never saw him again.”</p><p>“So I take it mom and pop tried to… encourage you to have a particular kind boyfriend?”</p><p>“Oh yeah.”</p><p>“Must’ve been a disaster.”</p><p>“Utterly.”  My smile grew a little more.  “It was some social dance thing, I think it’s called a cotillion.  I was thirteen at the time.  Anyway, my parents introduced me to this boy named Terrance Prince and his parents.  He was sixteen, tall, handsome, blond hair…”</p><p>“Deep blue eyes you could swim in?” Dean asked.</p><p>I chuckled.  “Yeah.”</p><p>“Some kind of sports car, like mine?”</p><p>“White BMW something-or-other.  Seemed really nice, at first.”</p><p>“At first?”</p><p>I nodded.  “It was while we were dancing, something kinda slow, kinda where you get close…  I could rest my head on his chest.”  My smile left my face, the memory making me feel all the more pissed off now.  “He leaned in real close and whispered about how he’d love to… pop my cherry.  That he’d fuck me real good, so good I’d…  That I would beg him to marry me.”</p><p>There was no humor on Dean’s face, no wily grin of amusement.  His voice was even when he asked, “What happened next?”</p><p>“I let go of his hands, took a step back…  I mean, I was shocked at what he said, how he said it.”  I paused a bit for the dramatic effect, and I could see Dean was anxious to know what I was going to say next, what I did.  “I kinda gave him a sucker punch to the jaw.  Whipped his head back and around hard.  He actually spun a one-eighty before he fell ‘round on his back.”</p><p>“You punched him pretty hard, a little thing like you?”  He was more amused at the thought of a tiny thirteen year old me punching an older guy out than anything.</p><p>“Knocked out cold.” I told him.  “I stormed out of there.  Then came the yelling, the lectures, and all the bullshit.  My parents didn’t want to hear my side of it.  His parents were completely pissed too, and of course I couldn’t tell them, or anyone, my side.  All poor, poor Terrance.”  I tried to be as mocking with my tone as I could, “Got his jaw broken by a girl half his size.”</p><p>Dean broke out into laughter.  “Served him right!” he cried.</p><p>“So, what about you?” I asked.  “You come off a lot like Terrance, all… suave and the like, a lady killer.”</p><p>“You know who I am, who I work for.”</p><p>“Casquilho mob family.”</p><p>“Harsh, but accurate.” Dean told me.  “Anyway, it’s what I used to do.  I’d seduce the secretaries to get to their bosses, get data for blackmail and extortion and the like.”</p><p>“Love ‘em and leave ‘em.”</p><p>Dean looked down to his hands.  “Been almost a year now since I’ve done that.  After…  After I met Alice everything changed.”  He looked back to me before continuing, “Oh, I still work for the family and all that.”</p><p>“Just not the seduction stuff.”</p><p>“Hardly.  No, other criminal things.”</p><p>“Like fake IDs.  Like mine.”</p><p>Dean nodded.</p><p>“Does Alice know?  She know all this?”</p><p>“A little.” Dean admitted.  “We’ve been living together for over two months now.”  He had that dreamy look in his eye when he sighed.  “You’ll know you’ve found the right one when it’s not just the sex that’s wonderful, that you two can be together, just being there, and everything seems just right.”</p><p>Wow.  I mean, seriously, wow.  Alice must’ve been some woman for Dean to go from strutting peacock to dedicated lover.</p><p>“Well, I think that’s about enough of that, for now.” Dean said.  “We still have some business to conclude.”</p><p>I pulled out the silver credstick I had gotten earlier and passed it over to Dean.  He gave an approving look before slotted it in his commlink.  I noticed there was a second port that had another credstick already in it.  From how his eyes danced I could tell he was doing something, likely moving money over to the other credstick.  Then he pulled mine out and handed it back to me with another chip.  I slipped the two of them into the same inside pocket where I had the credstick.</p><p>“Might wanna brush up on some of Denver’s laws so you don’t blow it with this identity.  And if you ever need anything more like it, another ID or just to add to it, just call.” Dean told me.</p><p>“Thanks.” I said, and I meant it.</p><p>I’d lifted the door open and was just climbing out when Dean called out to me, “The name you chose, the family name…  Your first?”</p><p>“Yeah.” I answered, bobbing my head in a nod just before I closed the car door.</p><p>Now I wish I could say I went straight home.  I had stopped off at a Nacho Mama for a cheap snack when I got a text from Lucius, and he wanted me to stop by the garage when I could.  It was more than dark and well after eight in the evening when I finally got there.  Lucius had been waiting for me outside.  I saw him rap on the garage door as I pulled up.</p><p>“Was hoping you’d be here a bit sooner.” Lucius told me as the garage door gently rattled its way up.</p><p>“You didn’t say when.” I countered, pulling my bike in as soon as the door was high enough for me to duck through.</p><p>“You should’ve come right away.”</p><p>“Look,” I said with a snarl as I killed my bike’s engine before turning to glare at him.  Then I remembered the visor was down on my helmet, so I flipped it up.  “This kind of shit might be easy for you to deal with, but I’ve got my own shit, my own life I’m trying to live.  I’m not gonna come just because you waggle a finger.”</p><p>“Then at least respond to the damned message!” Lucius exclaimed as he walked in after me, the door closing behind him.</p><p>“Shit you guys are loud.” cussed Roland from in front of the blue car Brick had punched.  “Arguing like an old married couple, too.”</p><p>“Well what the fuck do you guys want?” I asked, snapping my head to glare at the ass end of the car.  Damned thing was in the way to even see Roland.</p><p>Roland casually stepped around the car, wiping his hands on a rag that looked like was plenty greased up enough already.  “We’re lookin’ at hittin’ two trucks tomorrow.” he said, “And for the first one we gotta get goin’ early as it’s supposed to be there ‘round eight-thirty in the morning.”</p><p>“And we honestly thought it’d be best you stayed here so we could get going together, rather than try to meet up elsewhere.” Lucius added.</p><p>“And no, he couldn’t’ve said that in the message he sent ya.” Roland told me.  “I talked him outta it ‘cause someone might get lucky and figure everything out.”</p><p>“Alright, fine.” I told them.  “At least here’s a bit more peaceful than my regular place anyway.  And could ya open up the door, please?  I’d like to go get a few things before getting locked in for the night.”</p><p>“You’ll be back?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Maybe in an hour, yes, <em>dad</em>.” I answered, putting as much emphasis on that last word as I could.  And he really knew how I felt about my parents, so hopefully he’d get the hint.</p><p>When the door went rumbling up I put my helmet back on.</p><p>First I went someplace to think.  A few blocks north was a Soybucks and a Nacho Mama.  I chose the former.</p><p>I was in the parking lot when I popped off the back of my Airware and carefully pulled out a little chip located underneath the battery.  Back in the day people had to carry around larger credsticks that did more than just hold some money for you; they held all of your identification info, bank accounts, permits and licenses, and probably a bunch more.  A lot of them became worthless after Crash 2.0 and with the advent of the wireless matrix afterwards they pretty much became useless.  All that was in an old credstick got put into a chip that went into your commlink, so now if you lost that you’re just as screwed.  It’s also in a chip so you can easily move it all to a new commlink when you upgraded.</p><p>So when I pulled the chip out effectively Sonya Abrams was no longer, and when my ‘link booted up with the new chip I was now Crystal Tomaselli.  Yeah, I chose his very Italian family name partly because I, well, I guess I still pined for him a bit, but also because it was a name I knew my parents wouldn’t bother using to try to track me down with.  Assuming they were even keeping tabs on me.  I checked over the info I had on my new self, and noted that this one also came pre-loaded with a banking account.  Kinda nice of Dean or whoever to do that, but I also kinda figured that this was a mob bank.  Still, it was a way to appear normal, so I took the credstick I’d used to pay for it and transferred the remaining thousand to that account.  Everything else seemed to be in order, so I set the kickstand to my bike and went into the Soybucks, my old identity riding in the breast pocket where my fake used to.</p><p>It was late and I pretty much had the dining area to myself while I sipped a soy processed drink that was supposed to resemble coffee, nibbling on a pastry made from extruded soy powder and filled with an artificially flavored strawberry jelly like substance.  Yeah, sounds disgusting when I put it that way, but that’s what the food’s like for, like, ninety-five percent of the world’s population.  Everything that comes out of your average home Soy Processing Unit is like that.</p><p>After I was done pondering the meaning of life and shit like that, I left the soybucks (and caught the barista checking out my ass as I walked by) for a Stuffer Shack.  Okay, here’s an idea of just how much variety of shit that’s sold at a Stuffer Shack:  I walked out with the shit I needed for another night at the garage, toiletries mostly, but in a fucking new backpack I bought inside.</p><p>It was maybe a bit over an hour by the time I got back to the garage.  This time it was Brick who was waiting for me at the door, and like Lucius he rapped on the door.  He didn’t say anything but it looked like he was glad I came back.  After I got inside and had parked my bike I found someone else was glad I came back as Risa practically tackled me to give me a super tight hug.  She didn’t let up until I kinda halfheartedly hugged her back.  Guess I’ve gotten the little sister I never knew I wanted.</p><p>I tried thinking about things again as I took a shower.  The hot water and the general quiet both felt good to me.  A good lathering from the body wash also helped.</p><p>Maybe I was having some kind of breakdown or existential crisis or something.  Fuck if I know.  I was trying to figure out if this was really a life I wanted to stick with.  Hell, the money was more than good, having made more in the last month than I had managed before, and this fourth “contract work” job wasn’t even finished yet.  It was also plenty dangerous, though, since I’ve been beaten up and shot at already, but then stuff like that happens to cops too.  But I could always go back to the university to try and further my education, but fuck if I knew what I really wanted to do.  Become some kind of therapist just because I thought the psychology class was interesting?  Shit, I don’t wanna become like Harley Quinn and get fragged in the wetware.  As an adept my abilities didn’t really relate to that, either.  I was very athletic, I think I was even following that <em>way</em>, some ideal adepts came up with, but still I didn’t think of becoming any kind of professional athlete.  Even in the seventies, more than a century after one of the woman’s liberation movements sports were still dominated by men.  Oh, sure, the combat biker and urban brawl leagues had their fair share of women players, but the older sports like baseball, football, and basketball were still male dominated.  I did have some spells, but they were kinda strange in a way, a lot more personal than you’d think, and none of them would really work out if I were a psychologist.  Now maybe if I went psychopathic, invisibility…</p><p>I shook my head at that.  No, I had no real idea how I could become a wagemage, my talents in that area were all over the place.</p><p>But did I really want to turn my back on my old life?  Could I walk away from that?</p><p>I was done with my shower and working on drying myself off when I heard a knock at my door.  “Who is it?” I asked, silently thankful whoever it was was polite.</p><p>“Lucius.”</p><p>“Gimme a minute.” I said, running my towel once more around my chest to try and get as much water as I could, then I grabbed a short, gray, sleeveless shirt I had gotten at that Stuffer Shack and pulled it on.  When I opened the door it was one of the two pieces of clothing I was wearing to cover my modesty.</p><p>The look on Lucius’s face was priceless.  Kinda wish I actually had cybereyes so I could capture it for prosperity.  Black bikini panties that were more over my hips instead of around them and the shirt was so high cut that if I stretched I might show off my breasts a little if you were short enough.  And from how he blushed I knew he noticed.</p><p>Maybe if I’d answered the door naked I’d’ve given him a stroke or blood would’ve gushed from his nose like a geyser.  Well, we’ll never know.</p><p>But he recovered his cool quickly.  “I just wanted to let you know that we’ll be leaving extra early in the morning.” he told me, his face returning to its normal coloring.  “Roland says the truck’s due to be at RMD at eight-thirty-five, and we really should hit it before it gets too close.  He figures if we leave here at five we should have plenty of time to catch it.”</p><p>“Okay, thanks.” I told him, closing the door.  Feeling a little tired now I went straight to bed.</p><p>I guess the idea was for everyone to be up at sunrise.  I managed about half an hour after that.  Five-thirty is just too early.  After a meal that was probably supposed to be a breakfast burrito of some kind we were off.  Getting through the checkpoint into the PCC sector wasn’t too hard or long of a wait as we got there ahead of rush hour traffic.</p><p>Oh, yeah, getting my cold Rapier started took a lot less work this time.  It still didn’t start right away, but it wasn’t as bad as before.</p><p>Again Roland led the way and I was to play lookout.  Hopefully this time I also wouldn’t have to play Jackie Chan and jump onto a moving semi rig again.</p><p>Things actually turned out differently this time.  Maybe this truck was hackable as I saw the tractor trailer rig pull over to the side of the road and come to a nice and complete stop.  I guess this was how it was supposed to turn out, though this time the driver got out and climbed up onto the blocky semi to get between it and the trailer.  Not long after that I saw him jump clear of the other side and take off running.  As he did Lucius jumped up and climbed into the cab.  The engine started up with that typical diesel rattle, belching a cloud of black smoke from the set of stacks at the back.  I hung back to watch as Lucius pulled back out onto the main road.</p><p>I actually stayed there about a minute or so, at which point I saw the truck take a turn to go off in a different direction than towards RMD.  And about then I saw the driver make his way back to the road.  Then he pulled out a commlink…</p><p>He had no real idea I was behind him, even when I gunned the engine of my Rapier.  I actually managed to snag the ‘link from his hand (ouch, my hand stung from that) and get it shoved into a pocket so I could hammer the accelerator hard.  When I glanced in a mirror I saw him trying to run after me, which was useless, and after he realized he had no chance to catch me he flipped me off.</p><p>That was when I hit the brakes, skidding to a stop and turning sideways so I could look at him.  Then I pulled out his ‘link and waved it above my head.  When he started running towards me I popped the case on it, removed the battery and tossed it across the road and the ‘link off into the weeds on the other side.  The battery cover plate clattered to the road just before I hit the accelerator again, peeling out and zipping my way straight at him.  It wasn’t a game of chicken, and I had no intention of hitting him at all, but still he dove into the ditch as I zoomed well wide and past him.  I even managed to pop a wheelie though I don’t know if he saw me do that.</p><p>I gotta say this about Yamaha, even though the bike’s old its git-up-and-go hasn’t gotten up and went just yet.</p><p>Circling back around I managed to catch up with the others as they were doubling back a few kilometers off west of the road the truck had been coming up.  After a good while we all drove into a junkyard down towards the southern end of the PCC sector.</p><p>“Why didn’t you follow us?” Lucius asked as he climbed out of the semi cab.  This one was a lot more boxy, with smaller front tires than the single set of back tires.  It was also a lot shorter than the last rig, but I guess that doesn’t matter if the engine’s just as powerful.</p><p>“Had a hunch.” I told him as I killed my Rapier’s engine.  I decided to leave my helmet on as I continued, “He came back right quick and pulled out a ‘link.”</p><p>“Shit, could be trouble.”</p><p>“Taken care of.” I told him.</p><p>Lucius gave me a look.  “Didn’t think you had <em>that</em> in you, Little Lady.”</p><p>I flipped him off.  “I swiped his ‘link, pitched the battery one way and it the other.  Should’ve taken him an hour at least just to find one piece, if he’s lucky.”</p><p>Lucius laughed.</p><p>“What’s funny?” Brick asked as he and Risa came over to join us.</p><p>“The Little Lady purse snatched the driver’s ‘link and disassembled it on him while we made our escape.” Lucius told them.  Brick snorted before he started laughing, but Risa only grinned at me.</p><p>“Right, we’re all set already.” Roland told us as he walked up.  With him were another dwarf and a human, the later of whom climbed up into the driver’s seat of the semi rig.  “We each get sixty-five hundred for this one.”</p><p>“Price of copper’s that good?” Lucius asked.</p><p>Roland simply gave a sly smile and handed each of us a silver credstick, saying nothing as the semi rig and trailer rumbled off.  Like last time mine went into that inside pocket in my jacket.  “Be lucky you get yours, kid.” he said to me once the truck had driven away, “Wasn’t sure you were doin’ your job.”</p><p>“Null sheen, Roland.” Lucius said, “She did it well enough.  This one recovered quickly and probably was gonna call the Star or family on us.”</p><p>“And what’d you do ‘bout that?” Roland asked me.</p><p>“Swiped his ‘link from behind, threw the battery away and tossed the ‘link somewhere else.” I answered.</p><p>Roland actually chuckled at this.  “Well then, good job.”</p><p>“Time for lunch?” Brick asked.</p><p>“Yeah, we got time.” Roland said.</p><p>I followed behind the van as we went to a little pizza place for lunch.  It was a build-your-own kind of place, and while some of the toppings were real (like real meat) there was still much that was made from nutrasoy.  Mostly we chatted about more of the inane stuff, like yesterday’s game between Denver and Atlanta.  I pitched in a few comments, but the real quiet one was Risa.  It felt different, sitting there and eating lunch with the guys like this.  It felt… normal.</p><p>After we ate, out in the parking lot Roland told us he wanted to time our hit like last time, but we’d be going straight up the 121 to pass RMD on the way to hit this truck.</p><p>As we left the pizza joint behind, heading for the 121, I wondered just how long we’d be doing this, hijacking RMD’s shipments.  I was also wondering if I was going to be stuck doing this kind of “contract work” and could actually go on to something legitimate.  And for some reason I thought about little Risa and what kind of life she’d be leading if she stayed with the guys.  Not that they’re bad guys, in a way, but they weren’t little kids.</p><p>We were well on our way towards RMD on the 121 when I noticed a bunch of bikers passing us the other way.  Kinda struck me as odd at how similarly dressed they were.  When I saw them turn around to follow us I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.  With a few mental clicks I tagged Lucius’s commlink for a call.</p><p>“<em>What’s up?</em>”</p><p>“<em>Funny feeling about those bikers we just passed.</em>”</p><p>There was a pause before he said, “<em>Brick says they’re Godz and they hang around here.</em>”</p><p>“<em>They’re coming up on my ass right now.  And no comments about my ass!</em>” I told him pretty sternly.</p><p>I tried to watch behind me and ahead at the same time.  Maybe if I’d gone faster, I should’ve gone faster, but by the time I thought about it they were on me and I saw one of them swinging a club or something at me.  I tried to duck, but felt it clip me in the head, my helmet, and it got completely knocked off balance.  I barely managed to leap clear of my Rapier before it tipped over, rolling over and over before I finally came to a stop.  My left arm hurt where I’d slammed my ‘link into the muscle.  I could hear the roar of motorcycle engines as they raced by.  I was feeling pretty dizzy when I pushed myself upright.  I barely saw the boot when it smashed into my face guard.  My head bounced off the pavement and before I could try to get my senses something heavy dropped down on my chest.  Blinking I tried to get my eyes to focus, seeing a big guy in black leather pants, black leather jacket, blue under shirt, and a blue and gold bandana tied around his left arm.  He was elfin, kinda handsome, almost, but with bloodshot eyes, greasy black hair, and a leering grin on his face.</p><p>Now I’ve been told by others who’ve seen me doing some gymnastics that I’m really graceful, flexible, and all that, that I should’ve tried out for the Olympics and such.  This guy had no way of knowing that as he leaned over me, crushing his hands into my boobs, and the hardened toe of my booted foot crashed into the back of his skull.  This time it was his head’s turn to bounce off my helmet.  I wasted no time pushing the sex crazed maniac ganger off me, nor getting to my own feet in my adrenalin rush.</p><p>Motorcycles aren’t like bikes when you wreck.  They’re heavy monsters, with the Rapier weighing well over two hundred kilos, and a bitch to get upright when they’re tipped over.  I was trying desperately to get my purple Rapier back on its wheels when I was grabbed from behind, someone’s arms wrapping around my chest and pinning my arms to my sides.  I was hefted up to my feet and as I was being set back down again in that overpowering bear hug I whipped my head back, feeling my helmet scrape against the side of my attacker’s head.  I whipped it back again, trying to get a more solid hit.  The third time I felt a satisfying thunk against my helmet, which I followed up as heavy a heel stomp I could to his foot.  That loosened his grip enough on me to let me grab a wrist, and with a twist and heave I flipped my attacker over one shoulder.  It was that same greasy elf, again, and not feeling too generous I stomped my heel on his chest.  I wish I hadn’t because he managed to grab my foot, twist, and sent me sprawling again.  This time I managed to roll with it and came back up on my feet again to face the elf.  That elf was just as quick to get onto his feet, too.  I must’ve really got him good as his nose was mashed and he was bleeding pretty good now.</p><p>I think he was pissed off.</p><p>The elf reached down and pulled out a knife from his boot.  Briefly I was thinking, oh shit.  I put my hand to my holstered Colt, not quite sure what good it might be, but then he had no idea what it was loaded with (nearly useless gel rounds).</p><p>The elf rushed at me, way faster than I expected and I hadn’t gotten my Colt drawn.  I tried to draw and shoot, like those quick draw contests on the trids, but barely got it out before I had to sidestep the enraged elf.  I got my gun up in a double handed grip, lined up at the square of his back, and shot him.  My heart leapt into my throat when I saw him stagger forward from the hit.  When he turned to face me, looking like some drug crazed psychotic, I pulled the trigger again.  I think I hit him in the chest.  He staggered two steps back and fell down.</p><p>I just stood there, panting and fogging up my visor.  I doubted I had hurt him seriously, but might’ve knocked him out or something.  I felt a little woozy.</p><p>Then I remembered the others.</p><p>Holstering my Colt I rushed back to my fallen Rapier.  It was a pain in the ass to get it upright again (at least I didn’t have to dead lift it), and a bigger pain in the ass to get it going again.  When it was going it took a bit to really get going, and I was in third gear before I really felt its power kick in.  I was about to worry that I wouldn’t be able to catch up to the others, especially when I raced past the RMD factory, but I just kept going north on the 121.  Ironically it was about the same place as last time when I caught up to them and the delivery truck.  But this time there was still a fight going on, and I think the others were in a bit of trouble.  One clue was when I saw a guy in a black leather jacket whip his hand out and a bolt of lightning arced out to strike what I figured was one of Risa’s spirits, and just in time to watch it go poof.  Shit, if that guy could also conjure up something…</p><p>I’m not sure how close I got to the others when I stopped.  I pulled my pistol and held it in both hands, taking a bead at the spellslinger.  My heart was pounding pretty hard in my chest again, but I managed to pull the trigger.  I missed, but I shot again, and again, and again.  I think I might’ve actually hit him once, but then some of the others had spotted me.  It almost seemed like that game, except I was actually shooting at people instead of computer generated possessed humanoid… things.</p><p>At first I thought a motorcycle or something had exploded, but then I realized it was in mid air.  A fire elemental had appeared like it was dropping down from the sky.  It was humanoid and maybe as big as Brick, and landed like gravity didn’t matter.  It lifted up one limb and if fire was water it poured out flames at the Godz, hosing down one motorcycle in the process.</p><p>I guess that broke them.  They must’ve had one magician as he was grabbed by a friend while others went for their motorcycles (the ones that were still standing).  Relieved I put my Colt back and slowly drove up to the others.</p><p>“No time to hang ‘round!” Roland yelled at me, helping Brick into the van.  “Follow the truck ‘n get outta here!”</p><p>Already the semi was rumbling to life and on the move again.</p><p>Okay, that I could do.  I didn’t quite follow it straight away.  Instead I pulled right up next to the cab and saw that Lucius was driving.  When he noticed me he gave me a thumbs-up gesture.  Figuring everything was okay I pulled back and behind the trailer.  It was really slow going, but then those things aren’t known for their speed.  After a while he turned off the 121 to go west on the 285 and after a few kilometers found a place to stop.  Roland pretty much caught up to us there after a little bit and off we went.  Ultimately we ended up at the same junk yard as last time.  We even met up with the same Amerindian dwarf and friends.  I just sat quietly on my Rapier while Roland went to talk to the others.  Lucius and Risa both came over to me to wait.  Well, Risa rushed over and nearly plowed me over to give me a fierce hug.</p><p>“She was plenty worried about you.” Lucius said as he more casually walked over to us.  “I figured you’d give a call for help or something if you needed it.”</p><p>“I’m just glad only one stopped to beat me up this time.” I told them.</p><p>“Oh, you might want to fix that.” Lucius told me, pointing to my hip.</p><p>“Fix…  What?” I started to say.  When I looked down I saw my Colt at my hip, but it was wide open.</p><p>“Slide’s open.” Lucius said, “Happens when you run out of ammo.”</p><p>“Oh.” I said softly, pulling my gun out.  “Didn’t even notice.”  I wasn’t in any rush as I popped the clip out.  I had been told that it’s a good idea to carry more ammo when I got my gun, so I did spend a little to get two more clips for it.  I was glad I had remembered to pack them in a jacket pocket.</p><p>“Tunnel vision or something during that last fight.” Lucius said, “Easy to lose track of how many rounds you’ve fired off, especially when there’s a bunch of targets to shoot at.  And you had great timing too, otherwise I don’t think Risa could’ve gotten that fire spirit out.  Once they thought their mage was nearly geeked they bailed.”</p><p>I’d gotten my Colt set up again, I guess, and was just putting it away when Lucius asked, “Hey, you feeling alright?”</p><p>“I just…” I said, feeling a little numb.  “I don’t like really shooting at people.”</p><p>Lucius put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze.  “Not an easy thing to do for some.” he said.  “Which would also be why you use gel rounds.  They’re supposed to be nonlethal.  But they didn’t know that, and one gunshot’s like another.  Doesn’t matter if it’s armor piercing or gel, people will take cover.”</p><p>I managed a weak smile at that.</p><p>“Alright kids, here’s your cut.” Roland said as he walked over to us.  Each of us got a silver credstick.  “Seventy-five hundred to each of us.”</p><p>“Oh, hey, where’s Brick?” I asked, accepting my credstick and sticking in the inside pocket with the other one.</p><p>“Sleepin’ off a spell in the van.” Roland answered.  “That spellslinger gave him a bit of a shocking experience.  Just needs to rest up, he’ll be fine.”</p><p>“Glad to hear he’ll be okay.” I told them.</p><p>There wasn’t much more to that other than to go home.  After getting through the checkpoint into the CAS sector I stopped off at a gas station to refill the tank of my Rapier, swap the identity chips around again, and headed back to the dorm.  Well, I wanted to go back to my dorm but Allison caught me at the door.  I relented in going with her to meet up with the others for dinner, mostly so I could reassure them that I wasn’t trying to ditch them or anything.</p><p>We didn’t go far.  LuCom was just a bit southwest of the university, with a Soybucks just across the street and just a block south of that was a place called Rocky Mountain Buffet, and the neighborhood it was in was a bit of a spam zone (bad enough where I switch my contacts off so I can’t see it; my ‘link can’t quite handle it).  The place focused on barbecue foods, various meats but also grilled and roasted vegetables and such.  We met up with Hanako before actually getting there, and as we were dishing up Seth joined us along with another guy.</p><p>This other guy, Russell, was an elf, with brown eyes, black hair, and taller than any of us.  He wore a light jacket, a ‘Drone Slam’ t-shirt (red with two car-like drones facing off against each other and all done in chrome styling), and denim shorts that reached about halfway down his thighs to show off fully chrome legs.</p><p>There was some shop talk, and I was kinda evasive about the details of my… odd jobs as of late.  A couple of courier jobs, helping test the physical security at some place, that sort of thing.  On the other hand Seth was excited about some new firmware stuff that LuCom was working on, but couldn’t really say more than it’d help enhance a person’s privacy on their commlink.</p><p>After the shop talk the guys went on about the latest Dawn Of Atlantis updates, which wasn’t quite as interesting to us girls.  Hanako especially, who wasn’t really much of a gamer type.  Allison, on the other hand, seemed more interested in the VR stuff from a medical, technical, well, not the entertainment view of things.</p><p>Things were kinda wrapping up when I got a message from Lucius.  Before I opened it I was expecting him to be asking me to stop by their garage again to stay the night so we could do yet another early morning hit against RMD.  Yes, I did open the message and read it, and turned out we were to meet at a place called Jay’s Boathouse North to meet with Mr. Johnson at eight tonight.  I told the others that work called and went to leave.  I was just out the door when I heard Allison call my name.</p><p>“Hey, is everything alright?” she asked me.</p><p>“Yeah, it’s fine.” I told her.</p><p>“Really?  Because you’ve not been yourself lately.” she told me.  “You’re quieter all of a sudden.  Distant.  It’s like you’re not really here.”</p><p>Shit.  What could I tell her?  That my new occasional jobs are largely committing felonies?  That one of them resulted in the death of a little girl?</p><p>“Something is wrong, I can tell.” she said.  “You can tell me.  What’s going on?”</p><p>I turned around to face her, and I guess I didn’t have much of a poker face.  I was about eye level with her… chest, and this time it just seemed to make my stomach twist around into a knot.  When I looked up, finally meeting her gaze, I saw she was looking sad as she looked back at me.</p><p>“I…  I wish I could say.” I told her, looking away to something across the street.</p><p>“Is it these jobs you’re doing now?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“Stuff you don’t like doing?”</p><p>“A bit.” I admitted.</p><p>“Want to talk about it?”  She sounded so genuinely caring.</p><p>“I…  I can’t.” I managed to say, looking down to my feet.  “At least…  Not now, no.”</p><p>Allison did something I wasn’t expecting at all.  She took hold of me and pulled me in for a very tight hug, and apparently no qualms at all about crushing my face into her ample bosom.  Out of reflex my eyes closed and I let myself get lost against the press of her body, and for a brief time I actually wished we were in the showers so I could…</p><p>Yeah, um.</p><p>Yes, I did hug her back.</p><p>I was also the one to step back to break that hug.  I actually felt a bit better, and looking up at her I managed to say, “This job’s done.  That message I got…  It’s like, a final report or something.  And to get paid.”</p><p>“Paid is good.” Allison said, smiling just a little.  My parents can rot in Hell, this ork woman was such a good person.  Now if only…  Okay, head in the game, head in the game.</p><p>“Yeah, I should get going.” I told her, waving as I headed back towards my dorm.  We had walked to the buffet from there.</p><p>It ended up pushing really close to eight by the time I got there.  Border crossing didn’t help matters much, either.  The place also deserved the name, even though it looked like it was trying to be a family establishment it had the feel of being a real boathouse pulled up from some lake shore and dropped into the middle of the PCC sector.  At least the host didn’t stink of raw fish as he escorted me to a private dining room, where I was the next to last to arrive.  The others had gotten there before me, and I got a very enthusiastic hug from Risa when I walked into the room.</p><p>And so we waited for Mr. Johnson.</p><p>And waited.</p><p>It was almost half past the hour when he was supposed to arrive when we finally got a knock at the door.  Practically right away the door opened and Mr. Johnson’s bodyguard walked right on in like he owned the place.  He tossed his hand towards the table, and a bunch of little things went flying.  “Your services won’t be required any more.” he brusquely told us, and just as rudely walked right back on out again.</p><p>“What the fuck was that?” Roland asked.</p><p>I picked up one of the things he had tossed in.  It was a silver marked credstick.  Risa collected one as I plugged it into my commlink for a scan.  There was sixteen thousand nuyen loaded on it.  “I think it’s one of the nicer fuck-offs I’ve gotten from a job.” I said, slipping that credstick into the same pocket with the others.</p><p>“You’ve had others?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Yeah.  At least this one I didn’t have to fight to get my last paycheck.”</p><p>“Anyway, we’ll have to keep an eye out for that guy again.” Lucius said, “Might just have to turn him down unless his attitude improves.”</p><p>Brick grinned, thumping a fist into an open palm.</p><p>“Naw, not like that.” Roland said as we headed for the exit.  “He just has to pay a whole lot more.”</p><p>Risa was practically at my side as we walked back out to the parking lot.  What a pair we must’ve looked like.  Too bad she was so dark skinned, else I might’ve been able to tell others she was a cousin or sister or something.  Might not have been so bad if she wasn’t just the right height to be able to mash her face into my chest.  Yeah, I know, I can do the same with Allison, but then I’m not a young girl like Risa.</p><p>We went our separate ways once more, and partly on my mind was what I had managed to miss in my classes earlier today.  I’m sure that was part of what had Allison worried, since one of them was our psychology class.</p><p>Oh well.  Tomorrow’s another day.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Through A Rose Colored Display Link</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Can criminals be innocent of a crime they're accused of?  Sure they can, but sometimes it doesn't quite work out how you think...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Based on the mission written by Adam Large:</p><p>Saturday morning and I wish I didn’t have to wake up.  It’s rare for me to dream of someone I know, and as my body woke itself up against my wishes all I could keep of this last dream was being snuggled up with Allison on some sandy beach.  I wish I could’ve stayed there a good while longer.</p><p>So yeah, I was feeling a little frustrated as I hauled myself out of bed.  At least I had no pornographic serenade next door to pleasure my ears.  I took my time getting dressed before heading out to meet up with Allison and Hanako at the gym.  Here was one of the few places where Hanako showed off for the guys in a gunmetal chrome leotard that couldn’t quite help show off the curves of her slim body but was tight enough to give some of the guys problems.  Allison on the other hand wore something more like cotton for a sleeveless and high cut shirt top and shorts, both of bright orange, but I knew she had herself a good supportive sports bra to reign in her massive boobs.  I wore spats and a tight top, both of cherry red.</p><p>Doing a regular workout with friends is a lot easier than trying to do it alone, believe me.  Then again, sometimes it can get a little disheartening when working with some of the weights.  On the bench I can probably manage fifty kilos at best and that’s really pushing it, but Allison doesn’t even do that much for a warm up.  I gotta keep reminding myself that she’s a lot bigger than I am, and an ork, and those two things makes a really big difference.  Elves cheat in beauty, orks cheat in brute strength.</p><p>But today was more of an aerobic day, get the heart rate up and working hard.  I know a lot of girls don’t like getting sweaty, but I’ve long since not been really properly ladylike (just ask Terrance Prince how his jaw feels), so at the end of the workout I don’t care if I’m sopping wet or not.  Allison’s not even as much a tomboy as I am and workout sweat’s not really bothered her either, but when I first met Hanako she seemed to be really bothered by being around a bunch of sweaty, stinky people.  A couple of months later now and she’s not quite one to mind.</p><p>(I think it’s the good hot shower afterwards that keeps her going.)</p><p>We were pretty much done and Hanako and I were heading to the lady’s locker room (Allison had something she needed to do first) when two of the last people we wanted to see showed up.  Randy, the asshole that fired me because I wouldn’t fuck him, and Eric, the asshole who thought he was God’s gift to the world.</p><p>Fuck, they knew each other already?  Maybe it was just luck for us that they happened to show up together.  No, I couldn’t be that lucky.</p><p>“Hello ladies.” Eric said as he strode over to us, trying to sound suave and debonair, but he came off to me as a mongrel dog.</p><p>“Such a lovely… display before us.” Randy added.</p><p>Okay, I can take a compliment, really.  Honestly!  Hell, it could’ve even been Seth’s friend I met earlier this week (Randell was it?) who could’ve said what Randy did and I probably would’ve at least cracked a smile for him.  But coming from Randy, who doesn’t take no for an answer and honestly thinks maybe means yes, it made my stomach turn.</p><p>“I think I’m gonna be sick.” I honestly said, trying to walk past them.</p><p>“I think I got the cure for that.” Randy told us, stepping into my path.</p><p>“Yeah, they called it ‘Social Distancing’ ‘bout when VITAS first hit.” I snipped back.  “Seriously, three meters, asshole.”</p><p>“When did you last bathe?” Hanako asked, wrinkling up her nose.</p><p>“Yesterday.” Eric answered, “Why?  Wanna join me?”</p><p>“Funny, I didn’t think it rained yesterday.” I remarked.</p><p>“<em>K’so yarō</em>.” snarled Hanako.  No, I’m not going to translate that.</p><p>Somehow Eric figured it wasn’t nice, either.  No, it isn’t.  His gold plated smile quickly turned into a scowl.  When it looked like he was about to do something really stupid I stepped up between him and Hanako.  He glared at me for it, and I glared right back at him.  Fuck, I wasn’t afraid of this loser, not after going toe to toe with a ganger earlier this week that might’ve tried to stick it to me if he had the chance.  He might’ve been a head taller, outweighed me two-to-one (at least), but I sure as hell would take him on.</p><p>Then Randy stepped up beside Eric.  Shit, forgot about him.  I honestly had no idea about Hanako if it came down to a fight.  As far as I knew she didn’t know any hand to hand.  I mean, I knew more in a little bit of aikido than she did in anything.</p><p>I broke eye contact and looked around.  No one else seemed to be paying attention to us at all, just going about their workouts and their business…</p><p>Okay, hate me for this if you want, but I’ve been told that sometimes the best fight is the one you can avoid.  Well, diplomacy certainly wasn’t going to work (unless it was something like “meet me under the bleachers”), but…</p><p>I cried out at the top of my lungs, something blood curdling, and I slapped Eric as hard as I could and boy did I surprise him with that.  Hanako must’ve taken a step back when I screamed, because when I took two steps back, arms across my chest as if to cover my breasts, I didn’t bump into her.  “Don’t touch me you pervert!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.</p><p>That got everyone’s attention.  When the regular clanking of every single workout and weight machine comes to a stop all at once, the noise and following silence is deafening.  I put on my best scared-to-shit face, making both guys look even madder.</p><p>“Is there something wrong?” I heard a deep man’s voice ask.  When I risked turning to look the guy I saw would’ve made my jaw drop.  He was human, with short but spiked blondish hair and a squared jaw line that could probably break concrete, wearing baggy black shorts that hung down to his knees, white slip on shoes, and a really baggy white tank top that he could probably rip off with ease.  He was big, like two meters big, with that heavy muscled look of someone who really works out (not to the point of being gross like some professional bodybuilders, or having no neck like most football players).</p><p>“He made a pass at me!” I accused, keeping one arm across my chest while pointing at Eric’s face.  “Grabbed my…”</p><p>“That’s a lie!” Eric yelled, “She screamed and slapped me for no reason!”  No, actually, I did have a reason.  He was just too dense to realize it.  Men.</p><p>Oh man did this guy have a stare.  He gave me a look that got me wondering if he was gonna see right through me.  When he turned it on Eric he made the greasy redhead also break out in a nervous sweat.</p><p>“He has bothered me before.” piped up Hanako.  “He has tried to get me to do…things.  He will not leave me alone.”</p><p>The guy looked over to Hanako, giving her an appraising once over.  Eyes narrowing he turned his gaze back to Eric, who now was not looking so confident.  Okay, in a fight I’d put this new guy to win against Randy and Eric together.</p><p>“You alright?” I heard Allison ask as she hurried over to us.</p><p>“Ma’am, you know these people?” the big guy asked.</p><p>“Yes,” Allison said, “these guys’ve harassed my friends before.”</p><p>“That’s not true!” Randy cried out, finally breaking his silence.</p><p>“Bullshit!” I threw back.  “You fired me last month because I wouldn’t let you fuck me!”  You know, some of the best lies have some truth mixed into them.  “Bet you brought him along to try and force some…”</p><p>“Okay, that’s enough.” the big guy declared.  “I think you two… gentlemen should go.”</p><p>I had forgotten how meta-friendly this gym was.  Granted that accommodating trolls and dwarves can sometimes be a challenge, but this place had managed to blend some of the workout machines that were troll tough in with the rest.  And one of them had apparently been listening to our whole exchange and chose now to walk over to us.  He wasn’t an example of troll beauty by any means, with a big bulbous nose and fat lips, and he looked like he had an uneven patchwork of calluses all over, but he didn’t have a dull-witted and watery look in his eyes.  Oh, fuck no, you could tell he wholly understood the scene.</p><p>And just so you’ve got a perspective on the size of trolls and this big guy, when I’m at a little over a meter-sixty my eye level was at the troll’s crotch.  If he wasn’t wearing workout clothes I’d be at the perfect view to see… everything.  He also looked more than big enough to be able to heft Brick with one arm and throw him like a football.</p><p>Eric and Randy got the message.  I think anyone brain dead would’ve gotten the message.  They both gave me a glaring look, that kind of “we won’t forget this” kind of thing, as they took a few steps back and calmly, and angrily, walked back out of the gym.</p><p>Hanako latched onto me from behind.  “<em>Arigatō</em>!” she cried into my back, “<em>Arigatōgozaimasu</em>!”  I managed to turn around to give her a comforting hug back.  She buried her face against my shoulder, crying.  Damn, was she really that terrified?</p><p>“Thank you…” Allison started to say.</p><p>“Aiden.” the big guy finished.</p><p>“William.” added the troll.</p><p>“Allison.”</p><p>“Ha… Hanako.”</p><p>“Shay, and thank you, really.” I said, holding a still sobbing Hanako close to me.</p><p>“We’ll keep an eye out for those two.” Aiden told us.  “But you ladies still should see about getting something like a pepper punch sprayer, just in case.”</p><p>“Okay.” I said, breaking my hug with Hanako to gently guide her towards the locker rooms.  Allison was right behind us, and I was thinking it was too bad she wasn’t there from the start as maybe those two would’ve not bothered us.  She was bigger than either of them, and I’d wager stronger too.</p><p>“Fuck you got lucky.” Allison told us once we were well into the privacy of the lady’s locker room.</p><p>“Yeah, I know we are.” I admitted.  Hanako seemed just a little dazed as she meandered over to her locker and started slipping out of her leotard.  I watched her for just a little bit, trying to gauge if she was okay or not, and figuring she was probably going to be fine I went to my locker and started stripping down too.</p><p>The hot water was a welcomed relief, and I planted my hands against the tiled wall to brace myself underneath the cascade.  Boy did I need it, too.  Not to just ease my muscles after the workout but to… well.</p><p>“<em>E… Eto…</em> s<em>umimasen</em>.” I heard Hanako say right close behind me.  When I turned around I saw her, naked and soaking wet and looking down at our feet, twiddling her fingers.  Something was bothering her.</p><p>“It’s okay.” I told her.</p><p>“<em>A…  Atashi…</em>  I…” she stammered.  She looked like she was ready to have a complete breakdown.</p><p>Okay, fuck propriety and shit like that.  I put my hands on her shoulders and pulled her close to me and hugged her again.  She looked like she just needed a little friendly comfort, that’s all.</p><p>And I’m sure you perverts are getting your hard on just now thinking about this.</p><p>Okay, I’ll admit it felt really nice.  But fuck, she’s a nice girl and not into other girls like I am, and even though she’s pretty and all I wouldn’t…</p><p>She did.  She wrapped her arms up over my shoulders and around my neck and practically slammed her lips into mine!</p><p>Okay, I’m going to Hell.  Yes, I enjoyed it.  No, I didn’t break it right away.  Or at all.  She’s the one that held onto me, pressing in tight like she was trying to squeeze the water out from between us, and she didn’t stop until my hands slid down to her hips.  She had been on tiptoe for the kiss, and that kinda made it easy for her to break away when my fingers started getting close to…</p><p>She didn’t really step back when she broke the kiss, just sliding down that little bit to separate our lips.  She stared up at me, her dark eyes wide with a mix of wonder and fear.  I guess she really had no idea how I’d react to this.  I’ve not really been open about my sexual preferences with my friends here.</p><p>I tried to give her a gentle smile, sliding my hands up to take hers from around my neck.  I pulled them down to my chest, putting them where Randy could only dream of.  I hope my expression put Hanako at ease some.  I mean, I really didn’t mind this at all, but it’s not always easy to try and tell someone who’s become your friend, who’s of the same gender, that you’re more than kinda attracted to them.  I mean, she is really pretty.</p><p>And I guess things were okay when she finally managed a bit of a smile.  Made her look pretty again.</p><p>When I blinked some water from my eyes I saw Catherine standing before me, in her school uniform, fully drenched with her clothes and hair plastered to her tiny body, and with blood freely flowing from the side of her head.  She was scowling, very angry as she stared at me, her eyes glowing red…</p><p>I quickly stepped back, straight into the water again with my heart pounding violently in my chest.  Catherine just stood there, glaring at me with angry red eyes.</p><p>“What is wrong?” I heard Hanako ask.  I blinked a few times and Catherine vanished, replaced by Hanako once more.  Now she was looking a little afraid, holding her hands to her mouth demurely.</p><p>“I…  <em>gomennasai</em>.” I said, turning away from her.</p><p>“I…  I should go.” she hurriedly said.  I couldn’t hear her walk off over the sound of the shower, and I was fine with that.  Hopefully the noise would muffle my crying.  I know the water would hide my tears.</p><p>It had been just us three in the showers for that time, but I really have no idea if Allison saw any of that or not.  If she did I was glad that she didn’t say anything as we went to the campus cafeteria for lunch.  Thankfully I saw nothing of Randy or Eric, though I did catch Hanako giving me a few concerned looks but didn’t say anything about what happened in the shower.</p><p>While we were eating my commlink went off.  I manually answered it, holding so whoever was calling could see me.  From the other end I saw a Tanned looking ork with a gold tusk.  I think he had black hair but he had tried shaving his head bald, and I could see a gray suit collar about his neck.  “Oy, chummer.” he said, sounding like he was from the Bronx, “The boss needs some muscle and brains.  They were busy, so you’ze been tapped.  Aight?”</p><p>“No, not ‘aight.’” I snipped back, glancing at Allison and Hanako who could also hear him.  “Who are you and how’d you get my commcode?” I demanded.</p><p>“From a friend.” the ork answered right away.  “Iz name’s Dean.  Ya remember?”</p><p>Allison gave me a sly look.  Hanako I think was curious.  “Hey, it’s not like that.” I told them.  “Hey, hang on.” I added, standing up to leave them, walking over to a somewhat quiet corner of the cafeteria.  Then to the ork on my commlink I asked, “So why’d he not call me himself?”</p><p>“‘Cause he got pinched.” the ork answered, “He called the boss to ask for help.  He suggested you guyz to the boss.”</p><p>Translation:  contract work.</p><p>I sighed heavily.  “Where and when?” I asked.</p><p>“Marcel’s at four.” the ork answered.  “Don’t be keepin’ him waiting, and have an appetite.  Go to the kitchen entrance.  Don Casquilho, well, he’s got a… special relationship with the place.”</p><p>“I know.” I replied before hanging up on him.</p><p>I walked back to the table and sat back down.</p><p>“This one of those ‘odd jobs’ again?” Allison asked.</p><p>There wasn’t much hiding this.  Allison’s not as dull witted as you’d think an ork should be.  “Yeah, it is.” I told them.</p><p>“Any idea what it is?”</p><p>“Not really.  Not until I meet with my employer.”</p><p>“These jobs always like this?”</p><p>“They have been.” I told them.  “Look, it’s not like I’m committed to anything just yet.  I get the scan and if I like it or not I can take it or leave it.”</p><p>“Just… be careful, okay?” Allison asked me.</p><p>“Awe, didn’t think you liked me like that.” I replied, smirking and tipping my head just a little.  That made Hanako smile a little.  Allison did chuckle since she was probably the straightest person of the three of us.</p><p>We each had our separate ways to go after lunch.  Hanako had to give me a goodbye hug, something more friendly than suggestive this time, but it gave me a chance to whisper into her ear, “It’s okay.”  I gave her a slight smile and a wink when she stepped back.  I think she understood.  I hoped she’d understand.  There was no way I could tell either of them about my involvement in Catherine Westmore’s death.</p><p>I had no problem getting back to my dorm room.  I changed out of my casual clothes and got dressed up for work in my body suit vest, and other accoutrements.  This time I had my t-shirt colored to a medium gray with the word “DEFIANT” in angular block lettering across my chest, though my tights and boots were still black.  I also packed my other ID chip, just in case.</p><p>I was probably semi-conscious the first time I rode with Lucius to Marcel’s, and couldn’t quite remember the path we took when we left.  Fortunately as a rather popular restaurant it was easy to look up the address and get GPS directions there.  I stopped in a random parking lot to swap identity chips before going.  Maybe I should spring for another commlink or something, it might be easier.  I think the border guard took longer to let me through just to get a good look at my ass.  I wasn’t exactly in a mood, but the black visor of my helmet pretty much obscured whatever expression I might’ve had on my face.  I was eventually let through.</p><p>There was a pretty good line outside when I got there, lots of young wageslaves in their business suits pressed up to the windows to gawk at the wait staff like kids at a zoo would to see their favorite animals.  I circled around to the back like the ork instructed.  The others were already there by the time I pulled up, along with the tanned ork.  He was wearing a gray business suit that was way too small for him.  While he was giving me a stink eye as I walked up Risa came bounding over to me to give me a really warm welcome hug.  When I took my helmet off the ork seemed to relax.  Then he unlocked the back door for us and motioned for us to follow him inside.  He led us through a very busy and delicious smelling kitchen where a mess of chefs and cooks were working like mad to prep and move food out to the dining area.  The ork led us through a far door, turned a corner to open another door for us and motioned us inside a private dining room.</p><p>This room wasn’t too elaborate.  Two walls of dark wood without any decorations, then the third behind us that we came through, but the fourth was all windows to show the dining area.  I don’t think it took too long for me to realize that I was looking through the mirrored wall from the inside, and I spotted where we sat when we talked to that dwarf a few weeks ago.  There was a clear view of the wait staff, just about all of them female and just as scantily dressed as ever.</p><p>The dining table in this room was pretty good sized, large enough for ten comfortably.  At the head of the table was an elderly man, balding, and from his skin tone I’d guess he was Latino or something.  I’d guess he had gray hair, though it was practically shaved to nothing.  He was lean and looked like he was hitting close to seventy or something.  He wore a black business suit with a white shirt that looked like had all been tailored for him, though his wine red necktie was loosened.  If I had to guess, maybe this was Don Casquilho himself?  I don’t know.</p><p>He also had two bodyguards.  One I guess was a Rastafarian, large but not quite as imposing looking as Aiden, maybe a bit shorter than Lucius and lean looking.  He stared at us as we filed into the room.</p><p>The other bodyguard was probably also a Latino, more my height and lean, and completely distracted as he stared out the mirrored window to watch the waitresses.</p><p>“Come in, come in.” the old man said, waving at us with both hands, “Sit down.  Dinner will be here shortly.”  There was a bit of an accent to his English, Spanish I think.</p><p>We all chose chairs at the sides of the table, with me and Risa and Lucius to the old man’s left and Brick and Roland to his right.  I made sure my helmet was neatly stashed under my chair.</p><p>Dinner didn’t take long at all.  I think I was barely situated when a couple of waitresses came in.  The one I really noticed had nice hips, big breasts, and wore nothing but a sling bikini, a skimpy, blue colored, V-shaped thing that barely covered her at all.  From her tusks I figured she was probably an ork, but with no body hair at all and large patches of fine blue scales down her arms, legs, and covering much of her head I’d also guess she was a changeling.  In each hand she held one of those massive wooden spatula things, carrying an iron deep dish pizza pan.  Okay, I know I had lunch only a few hours ago, but damn that smelled really, <em>really</em> good.  I got a good look at them as she bent over to set the pizzas down about in the middle of the table, and I could see what the pizzas were topped with too.  Meat must’ve been on the menu because one looked like it was topped with a whole mess of cheese, ground hamburger, bacon, pepperoni, and diced ham, and drizzled with some kind of brownish sauce to boot.  The other looked pretty good too, though it had more bell peppers and just some ground meat on it.  Another waitress, the one I had seen last time with the cascading rainbow effect running down her cybernetic limbs, had a large tray with baskets of fries, and she passed one out to each of us.  They weren’t just fried potato sticks, but they were doused with some kind of mix of hot spices.  Last to get passed around were half a dozen large glasses of beer, though Roland and Brick got mugs that were probably twice the size.  I could tell it was beer from the yellowish color and the foam on top, and by the smell of it when mine was given to me.</p><p>The big breasted waitress dished up a slice of pizza for each of us, one from each pan.  I kinda wish I had blacked out sunglasses or something, but at least she smiled a little sweetly at me when she caught me staring.  Part of me was also jealous of her.</p><p>“So, Don Casquilho,” Lucius said (oh fuck, meeting with the head of a mafia family after all?), “your man said that something’s being pinned on one of your lieutenants?”</p><p>I kept my mouth shut by taking a bite of the meat loaded pizza.  Oh God it was good, thick crust that was just the right kind of crispy at the edge, buttered with something extra added, more cheddar cheese to the topping, and that sauce was barbeque.</p><p>“Yes, someone set Dean up for something I know he’d never do.” Don Casquilho told us.  “He was arrested yesterday for some criminal hacking and murder.”</p><p>Murder?  I couldn’t believe that.  Okay, I admit I haven’t really known the guy but he really didn’t seem like the killer type, unless maybe it was trying to have killer good looks (which he kinda did).  Criminal hacking, okay, yeah, that I can believe.  But not murder.</p><p>Don Casquilho waved with one hand, and his black skinned bodyguard produced a sheet of paper from inside his jacket and placed it on the table by Lucius.  Lucius took a bite of pizza as he looked it over while Don Casquilho went on, “Dean’s almost like a son to me, maybe if I were a younger man.  I know the kid, he’s a good kid, and maybe he’s a bit… curious about computers, but he’s no killer.”</p><p>When Lucius was done he handed me the paper.  It was a Knight Errant arrest report, with Dean’s mug shot and all the statistics that go with it.  I stopped reading after the first line of current charges:  2nd degree murder of Alice Jensen.</p><p>Alice.</p><p>I thought about that afternoon with Dean in his sports car, talking about love and all that.  I guess to some guys that mushy stuff is…  Well, Dean certainly seemed open and honest, and I couldn’t think of any way a person could actually live for two months with someone all the while planning to kill them.</p><p>I didn’t look at the rest of the sheet as I passed it off to Risa.  Pretty sure she’d want to look at it.</p><p>“So you’re pretty sure that this’s a setup?” Roland asked.</p><p>“Absolutely.” Don Casquilho answered with that tone of assuredness that he wholly believed it himself.  “I know him.  I even met Alice once, nice girl, very nice girl.”</p><p>“There’s no way he could’ve killed her.” I said, interrupting him.  Oh crap, I looked at Don Casquilho, swallowed my shame and looked down at my lap.</p><p>“Ah, no need to be ashamed of that, miss.” Don Casquilho told me.  “But I am curious…”</p><p>“I…  I asked him to get me something earlier this week.” I told them, hoping that they wouldn’t press that it was my current fake ID I was using.  “We met someplace so he could deliver, and we talked a bit.”  I looked back at Don Casquilho, “I swear, that’s all we did, talk!”  I was quick to shut up when he held up a hand.</p><p>“Okay, it’s okay.” he said, “You two must’ve talked a bit about Alice then.” he figured, and I nodded.</p><p>“So you’re wanting us to find out who’s framing Dean and take him, her, or them down?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Yes.” Don Casquilho answered with a bit of authority that made me a little nervous.</p><p>I went for my first chug of beer, thinking I knew what to expect.  For one it was a bit more bitter than I was expecting it to be, but there was a strong dark cherry flavor to it that actually mellowed the bitter.  It was actually pretty good.</p><p>“And of course I’ll pay you for your work,” Don Casquilho continued, while I dug into my fries (also delicious), “Two thousand now, to help cover the usual stuff, and an additional seven thousand when you’ve got the proof that Dean was framed.”</p><p>I swallowed my fries before saying, “I’m in.”</p><p>Lucius waited, looked at the others first to get their reactions before saying, “Yeah, we’re in.”</p><p>Don Casquilho wiped his hands clean on a napkin before pulling out a commlink.  When the money transfer of two thousand nuyen popped up I accepted it.  After everyone had gotten paid he then pulled out a key on a ring and two chips from an inside pocket, passing both to Lucius.</p><p>“The key will get you into Dean’s apartment in the Hub.” Don Casquilho explained, “One of the chip’s a fake identity, a lawyer’s ID so you can get in to talk to him.  The other has a bit of data to tell you where you need to go.”</p><p>“Any ideas who might’ve done this?” Roland asked.</p><p>“The Triads.” Don Casquilho answered with that same self assuredness.  He wholly believed it.  “We’ve had… business problems with them more and more lately.”</p><p>We finished up our meal, though I didn’t have more than three pieces of pizza (only a second of that barbequed beef style).  I did notice that Risa hadn’t touched her drink, and when offered Brick was more than willing to drink all of hers too.  Must be really nice to be able to eat a ton and not worry about your figure.</p><p>“So, what’s first?” Roland asked as we gathered next to his van.”</p><p>“First, the Little Lady and I go talk to Dean.” Lucius said.  “Then we scope out his apartment and see if we can by chance find anything.”</p><p>“Wait, us?” I asked.  “Do I look like a lawyer to you?”  I took a good look at Lucius and added, “Do you think you look like a lawyer?”</p><p>“Not a problem.  I’ve got it covered.” Lucius told me, trying to sound reassuring.  It didn’t work for me.</p><p>How do I get talked into these things?</p><p>Anyway, the Knight Errant office that wasn’t too far south from the Hub, but this did mean another border crossing.  Now this is where something gets kinda strange because supposedly the CAS sector has a contract with Lone Star for the police work and they’re a separate business from Knight Errant.  Way weirder than reading about how Lone Star had tracked Catherine down to the UCAS sector, which contracts to Knight Errant for security, but since Catherine was a CAS resident it made some sense that Lone Star could cross the border for her.</p><p>But Knight Errant had multiple offices all around the CAS sector, and I’m pretty sure that Lone Star had the same in the UCAS sector too.</p><p>It was just me and Lucius as we walked into the Knight Errant office, our ‘links broadcasting our identities like the law required.  Outside the wind was starting to pick up, a cooler breeze from about the northwest with a hint of moisture in it as the sun was already well behind the mountains.  It smelled a lot nicer than inside, which was stuffy and loaded with sweat and various body odors, and maybe a few smells I’d rather not know the details about.  He did all the talking to a desk sergeant, apologizing for the lateness of our arrival and that I was a new intern assistant for him so I could get in with the suspect.  The desk sergeant bought it and buzzed us in.</p><p>The room itself looked a lot like those interrogation rooms in the trids, save that there wasn’t a mirror or any cameras perched in a corner to watch everything that went down.  At least it was ventilated so we didn’t have to bask in the smells of whoever was the last guest of honor.  We waited there for about ten minutes or so before an officer brought Dean in.  He didn’t even bother removing the handcuffs when he left, the pig.</p><p>Dean looked terrible, like he’d had the worst night of his life and slept in his own clothes.  He was just about barefoot, and might’ve been better off since socks and linoleum don’t go together at all.  Well, I guess he probably has had the worst night of his life.</p><p>“So, how’s grandfather?” Dean asked as he sat down.</p><p>“Very worried about you.” Lucius answered, “But, you know, he does worry about family.”</p><p>Dean looked at nothing in particular and just nodded.  I would’ve thought that knowing Don Cosquilho was worried about him might’ve been a bit of a relief, that he’s got support on the outside, but it just seemed like a statement of fact instead.</p><p>“So I’m sure you know why we’re here.” Lucius said.</p><p>“You want to know what happened, my story.” Dean solemnly said.</p><p>“Anything that might help us track down who framed you.”</p><p>“All they’ve got is circumstantial evidence.” Dean told us, now looking straight at Dean, “The people at LuCom have seen me before.  I’ve been there a lot so it’s understandable they’d recognize me.”</p><p>“What kind of evidence do they think they have?” I asked.</p><p>Dean looked at me, firm but not upset or angry like I’d asked something stupid.  “Every commlink’s got a unique identifier to it.” he said.</p><p>“I’m familiar.”</p><p>He nodded.  “Everywhere you go, whatever you do, that ID gets recorded.  Your ‘link’s ID will say you were here long after you’ve left, and not just your SIN either.”  He looked back to Lucius, continuing, “The time the hit went down at… LuCom, my commlink was reported to be there.  On top of that I’ve got a record, so I’m already a known criminal and all that so it’s really all the Knight needed to lock me up.”</p><p>“But you weren’t there at all.” Lucius reasoned.</p><p>“Can’t you explain that?” I asked.</p><p>Dean smiled just a little, that kind of sweet smile when a little kid asks something really stupid.  “Wish that I could,” he said, “but I’d have to incriminate myself on other things to do it.  Either way I’d be in here anyway.”</p><p>That wasn’t an answer enough for me.  “Okay, so what were you doing that could do that?” I asked.</p><p>“Call it a high level game of ‘Switchboard,’” Dean said, “I was intercepting communications through the grid and redirecting who got what.  A Kirillov Vory smuggler got a safe zone from someone in the Golden Triangle, a bunch of Kachina goons started broadcasting their wireless chat on the PuebSec network, and I accidentally sent a Casquilho Imports shipment to a little trideo store in Cal-Free.  Boy will they be surprised when they find that they got a dozen hand-made Talavera urns with about fifty grand in narcotics in fake bottoms.”</p><p>Lucius whistled.  I grimaced and nodded.  Yeah, he really couldn’t say he was doing that at all to Knight Errant.</p><p>“So, what about when you were brought in for questioning?” Lucius asked, “Pick up on anything really weird?”</p><p>“Actually, yeah.  One of them kept badgering me about what I did to one of the commlinks, why I took it and where’d I stash it.” Dean answered.  “I mean, that’s never been me.  Sure, maybe I worked on… Alice’s…”  He started to break down right there.</p><p>Okay, even in the 2070’s a lot of guys still got this idea that it’s a really sissy, girly, wimpy, whatever thing to do to cry.  I get it that you guys still gotta act all tough and macho and shit, but go fuck yourselves if you can’t accept that there are times when it’s really the thing you should do.</p><p>Losing someone you love <em>is</em> one of those times.</p><p>“I loved her.” Dean softly said, looking at nothing on the table between us, “Sure, maybe I used to seduce women, con them to get into their boss’s offices.  I used to.  But she was different.  This time it was different.”  He looked up to Lucius, tears freely streaming down his cheeks, then to me and said, “I even came clean about some of my past, and she still…  She even moved in with me…”</p><p>I reached out to touch his cuffed hands, willing some emotional support to him.  Shit, made me want to start crying too.  Maybe I already knew part of this story, but it didn’t make it any easier.</p><p>Lucius didn’t say anything.  He just sat there quietly until Dean collected himself.</p><p>“She was the real deal, huh?” Lucius finally asked.  Dean simply nodded.</p><p>“We’re gonna need whatever you can tell us if we’re gonna catch the real killer.” I told him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.</p><p>“Grandfather thinks we might find something at your place.” Lucius added, “He gave us your address and a key, so if there’s anything that might help?”</p><p>“Can I see your ‘link?” Dean asked.  I let him have his hand back when Lucius passed it over, and I couldn’t quite tell what Dean was doing with it.  “One is a passcode to my home network,” Dean told us, “it’ll give you limited access, but it should be enough for your matrix specialist to see if someone’s tampered with it.  I also entered in the ID for Alice’s ‘link.  If Knight’s so keen on finding it then it might help you guys.”</p><p>“Any reason you didn’t give them this bit?” I asked.</p><p>Dean snorted in amusement and just kinda hung his head a little, giving us a wry smile as he said, “It’s not what they wanted to know.”</p>
<hr/><p>“Well?” asked Roland when we were back outside where the breeze was starting to really pick up.</p><p>“Dean’s a bit pig headed.” I answered.</p><p>“He can’t clear himself because it’s incriminating on a bunch of other illegal things.” Lucius amended.  “Now since you’re the hacker, gotta confirm this, is it possible to make the grid believe a commlink is where it really isn’t?”</p><p>“Spoof a location?” Roland asked, “Sure, it’s plenty easy and there’s a few ways you can just as easily do it.  Just gotta know the access ID first.  Why?”</p><p>“Knight’s got him on circumstantial evidence at best,” Lucius explained, “but because he’s got a rap sheet they can use it to bury him for everything.”</p><p>Roland simply growled.</p><p>“He didn’t do it?” Brick asked.</p><p>“Hardly.” I muttered.</p><p>“Good chance that he didn’t.” Lucius said.  “Hell, the guy completely broke down at the thought of Alice being dead.  Doesn’t really seem to be the killer type.  So we’re off to his place next.  And he gave us a few things that might help.”</p><p>Well, we sort of were.  Dean’s place was in the Hub, which is practically a city within the city.  Almost all of Denver’s administration offices are in the Hub, along with the headquarters for the Zone Defense Force, but there’s also a major mess of night clubs, bars, and restaurants.  So much so that the whole place is just about shut down to any and all traffic that’s not on foot.  There were only a few border checkpoints to boot, and I’d been told they were horribly slow pretty much always.  We got a firsthand experience at that when we tried to cross.  At least this time it didn’t look like any of the border guards were ogling me.</p><p>Now just because the place was closed to cars doesn’t mean there wasn’t any traffic.  There were vehicles on the streets, and those streets were plenty congested.  On top of that the air above was literally buzzing with various drones, all blinking red and green lights as they flew around.  Now there’s drones that buzz around the university and all over where there’s a lot of businesses (and several places where apartment buildings are crammed in tight), but those areas have clear skies compared to the Hub.</p><p>Even in air above the Hub there are traffic lanes.</p><p>After a good deal of walking we found the building Dean lived in, and the key gave us access inside.  There must’ve been a security tag or something as the door unlocked itself as we walked up (there was no doorman) and even automatically called an elevator for us when we got to them.  I was quite surprised when we actually got inside his place.</p><p>He had a really super wiz place, and rather high up in the building too.  It wasn’t a mess, none of those über-geek toys anywhere, everything looked organized, and it smelled quite clean and refreshing in here.  On top of being way above ground this wasn’t the place you’d expect to find a hacker living in.</p><p>“Okay Roland, take a peek in his network.” Lucius said.</p><p>“Not sure what you expect me to find.” grumbled Roland.</p><p>I casually walked into the living room with Risa right beside me.  White leather couches and chairs, the table was white with a clear glass top (with a few glasses on coasters on it), and a massive entertainment system dominated the wall opposite of some very large windows.</p><p>“He’s got quite a nice place.” I remarked as I meandered to the windows.  Most of the tallest buildings in Denver were all in the Hub.</p><p>“Yeah, nothing at all like some hacker’s I’ve known.” Lucius added.</p><p>It was a pretty open place, too.  No real wall separated the living room from the kitchen.  That… area was also rather neat.  Sure, there were some dirty dishes in the sink, but to me that’s not a mess, that’s just living.</p><p>I jumped when an appliance activated itself.  I spun on a coffee machine as it started to churn and gurgle.</p><p>“Getting a little jumpy?” Lucius asked.  I flipped him off and stalked off deeper into the apartment, which wasn’t huge, but even the guest room made my dorm look like a shoebox by comparison.  Everything was relatively neat.  I even found “His” and “Her” stuff in the master bedroom and bathroom.  Looked like Alice really was living here.  Had been living here.</p><p>“Find anything?” Lucius asked me when I walked back out, with Risa still in my shadow.</p><p>“Just a really nice place.” I said.</p><p>“Bah, shit.” muttered Roland.</p><p>“What is it?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Something was in the network when we got here.” Roland told us.  “Didn’t notice it until it tripped the coffee pot.”</p><p>“I thought it had a motion sensor.” I said.</p><p>“What happened to it?” asked Lucius.</p><p>“Got away, but I think I got it’s ID.” Roland said.</p><p>“Can you track it?” Brick asked.  I noticed he was still standing at the door.</p><p>“Yeah, I should be able to.” Roland said.</p><p>Lucius grumbled.</p><p>“What is it?” I asked.</p><p>“Something’s not right here.” he said.  He shook his head.</p><p>“How do you want to play this?” Roland asked.</p><p>When Lucius didn’t say anything, and I did wait for him to figure something out, I said, “Well, in the crime investigation trids they’re always checking out the scene of the crime.”</p><p>Roland groaned.</p><p>“Hey, I don’t hear you suggesting anything!”</p><p>Lucius held up a hand and sighed.  “We can’t just stand around here.  Let’s go check out LuCom.”</p><p>“If you say so.” Roland grumbled.</p><p>Turns out that getting out of the Hub’s a lot easier than getting in, though there’d been a changing of the guard at the checkpoint and one of them had been studying my chest pretty intently (not that I’m impressive there; I’m only average sized).</p><p>Despite the late hour LuCom was still busy.  Well, sorta.  For one the spambots weren’t running and a lot of the other advertising AROs that just never seem to go away were gone.  The building was three stories tall, and I doubted the lights that were on were strictly for the janitorial staff.  Across the street the Soybucks was still open, catering to the late night crowd and had their open air dining still in use.  There was a narrow alley before the next business, Jesse’s Jigawatt Drones (what the fuck’s a jigawatt?), and an open parking lot where Lucius and Roland managed to find side-by-side spots.</p><p>“This place is practically dead.” commented Roland as we all gathered in front of the vehicles.</p><p>“Yeah, no crazy spambots.” I added as I hung my helmet on my Rapier’s handlebars.  In fact the only AROs to be seen were a geostatic police barrier by the entrance to LuCom where there were two very clearly armed guards at the door.  I’d read somewhere that before the wireless revolution of the matrix in 2065 cops had to use rolls of yellow tape to mark off scenes like this.  Bet it was real pain in the ass trying to find where you could wrap it around for the corners.  At least with a tag someplace you could set geographical coordinates and program a virtual object to just float there where everyone can see it.  A little bit of that I learned from listening to Seth ramble about his classes.</p><p>“Not even evidence.” Brick commented.</p><p>“Naw, there’s an ARO tape barrier put up.” Lucius said.</p><p>“Hey, um, I’ve been wondering…  Why’s Brick wearing glasses sometimes when we do stuff with AROs?” I asked.  “I mean, wouldn’t contacts be cheaper?”</p><p>“Can’t do it long.” Brick said, “Makes my stomach… qu… qu…”</p><p>“Queasy.” Roland finished.</p><p>“Not everyone handles simsense and AR well.” Lucius explained, “It’s classified as a kind of vertigo, so Brick doesn’t use trodes and just looks at his ‘link all the time.”</p><p>Another thing I remembered from Seth’s ramblings as I saw Brick holding up his ‘link to look at the screen, and through it LuCom.  The first generation AROs only worked by holding up something like a commlink and using its built in camera.  Fortunately it didn’t take long for someone to figure out how to make glasses and contact lenses to go with it all, so you didn’t look completely idiotic and un-wiz holding your ‘link in front of you while you walked.</p><p>“But it’s nature of the biz.” Lucius continued, “They wouldn’t’ve waited long after all the crime scans were done before hosing the street off.”  That made me shiver, the cold callousness of what and how he said it.  “Roland, you hang here and check out LuCom and the area.  Brick, you and the Little Lady go around that way and just look around.  Risa and I will go down around the other alley here and look.”</p><p>“Look for what?” I asked.</p><p>“Clues.” Lucius answered, “Just like those crime dramas.  I think someone put it, ‘It’s not about finding what’s there, but what doesn’t belong.’ or something like that.”</p><p>“Alright big guy, let’s go.” I said to Brick.  Did I mind getting paired up with him?  Maybe a little.  No, not because he’s an ork or that maybe he’s a little slow to think.  No, I minded because I felt Lucius and I got along better for doing… well, anything.</p><p>So Brick and I walked away.  The other building housed a photo studio to our left, but I hadn’t a clue what was in the building on the other side of the alley we walked into.  Okay, I figure I can take care of myself but there are still things I’d rather not do and walking into a poorly lit alley at any time is one of them.  Having Brick with was a bit of a comforting thought.</p><p>“Wish I knew what we were supposed to find.” I muttered, absently kicking a pile of trash as we slowly sauntered down the alley.</p><p>“Can’t know till we find it.” Brick said, walking just a few paces behind me.</p><p>I could’ve said something to that, but just kept my mouth shut.  After a few jobs I was liking the big guy a little.</p><p>We got about halfway down when I think we found it, and it had hit me like a big freight truck.  It wasn’t a pleasant experience walking that alley, with the stinky trash and who knows what else lurking in the stuff, but when the smell of rot and shit just sits up and practically hits you in the face…  Well, I gagged and threw up.  Yeah, it was bad.  Really, <em>really</em>, bad.</p><p>Either Brick couldn’t smell as well as I could (no, not one of my enhanced tricks like running up walls) or he had a much more staunch constitution than I did.  While I was bent over, trying to not throw up again or imagine Randy trying to ramrod my ass, Brick came over and started pushing some trash aside.  He didn’t have to move much to find a body, and I heard the buzzing of a lot of flies when he did.  And the smell…  I gagged just before throwing up again.</p><p>“He’s stiff.” Brick commented.  I forced myself to look, but held a hand over my face to try and stifle the stench.  From his clothes he looked like he’d been homeless, old and tattered rags covering him.  He was really pale, sweaty, but also not quite right, like looking at someone’s hand when they’re wearing a latex glove.</p><p>“I can’t… I…” I managed to say before turning away and hurrying out of the alley.  I stopped at the end, breathing hard and relishing in the cleaner smelling air.</p><p>Okay, to be fair that’s my first time seeing a real dead body.  Trideo and VR games are one thing, but they don’t really include the smell of things.  It’s way different when you know it’s real, seeing what used to be a person.</p><p>A little while later Brick came up to me.  “You okay?” he asked.</p><p>“Yeah, I guess so.” I said.  I looked up at him, saw the concern on his face, and added, “My first dead body.”</p><p>He put a big hand on my shoulder, not heavy like, and squeezed just a little.  Made me smile a bit.  He was good people.  “Found a clue.  Let’s go.” he said, leading the way back to the parking lot.  When we spotted Lucius talking to another guy that was almost as tall as him we kinda meandered over to the vehicles instead.  Roland was in the front seat of his van, eyes closed and looking like he was listening to some of his favorite tunes.</p><p>I sat on the hood of Lucius’s red sports car while Brick got inside the van.  I looked at the LuCom building for a while, watching what little I could of the place since I couldn’t see into the windows.  After getting bored with that I started looking up news articles about LuCom in the matrix.  There was next to nothing on the major news circuits, barely a mention that it even happened with the names of who were killed.  The longest article I found talking about it was by a guy named Wharez Waldo, someone I’d heard Kody talk about a few times.  I won’t bore you with the details, but half of that article of his covered the hacking, that Dean was “suspect one” and why, and also that it couldn’t’ve been just him alone.  Actually, Waldo mentioned others of the Mob family (oh, fuck me, now I get why Dean wasn’t as relieved as I thought he should’ve been) to see if they’d confess to the crime.  On the flip side he did have a harsh thing to say about LuCom’s CEO, comparing the man to Nero of Rome.  I had to do a search on Nero to figure out who that was.  Ouch.  I made a mental note to ask Hanako if she was related to the CEO since they both had the same family name.</p><p>I didn’t bother looking away from my AROs when I heard footsteps walking up.  From the direction I figured it would’ve been Lucius and Risa anyway.  I was partly right as Risa hopped right up on the hood and sat next to me.</p><p>“Hey Crystal,” I heard Lucius say as Risa leaned into me, “where’s Chuck at?”</p><p>I almost wanted to ask who the fuck he was talking about while at the same time I was surprised he didn’t call me Little Lady.  Honestly I was about to actually ask that when I think I figured out why he called me Crystal, the name of the fake ID was using.  The “real” name to Brick’s ID was Charles.  With one hand I jabbed a thumb at the van while the other went around Risa.</p><p>Lucius pounded twice on the van door.  “Chuck, get out here.  We need to talk.” he loudly said.  I opened up a new search window to look up something.</p><p>Even though my AROs were private, no one else could see them, I kept my eyes on them.  Even when I heard the van door open and close I didn’t look away.  I kept focusing on my searches, and actually started up a streaming music player too, something technosynth.  I didn’t set things too loud because I still wanted to hear.</p><p>“What about Doug?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Deep dive.” Brick answered.</p><p>“Hey, Crystal.” Lucius said.  I ignored him.</p><p>Risa didn’t, and tapped my shoulder to get my attention.  When I did look at her she pointed back to Lucius.  Then I turned to look at him, and beside him I saw another guy.</p><p>Fuck me, I’m starting to learn this shit.</p><p>Next to Lucius was a guy that was almost as tall.  Human, with green eyes, short cut dark hair, and a dark complexion.  Guess he grew up taller than normal as he had a real lean looking build, with that long jaw and sharp cheekbones you see in some really tall people.  He wore nice shoes, black slacks, and for contrast a really big jacket that looked like would never see the inside of a business room.</p><p>I gave Lucius a scowl, pulled out an earbud and letting the little speaker blare out its music.  “Yeah?” I asked in as an annoying tone as I could manage.  The look I got back was, well, I think he really believed I was pissed at the interruption of whatever inane activity I was just doing.</p><p>“Crystal,” he said darkly, “this is Detective Jack Diamond with Knight Errant.”</p><p>“Detective.” I said, keeping up my scowl to try and hide the “oh shit” feeling I really had.</p><p>Yeah, fuck me.  Cop.</p><p>“Mind if I ask what’s so interesting?” Detective Diamond asked.</p><p>I gave the detective a once over, mentally clicking on his and Lucius’s commlinks (security here required public broadcasting).  Now when I turned to face the guys, my AROs didn’t turn with my gaze.  They were programmed to stick relatively in front of me, so I had to turn back to focus on one ARO in particular to mentally select it, their commlinks, and set it so they too could see just that particular one.  Part mental pickup from the trodes and SIM module, part matrix magic, I “grabbed” that ARO and brought it around to show them the digital art I had found not a minute ago.</p><p>The trid pic was of a pair of really heavily muscle bound men facing off, hands locked as they were trying to grapple.  By that alone it wouldn’t’ve been too bad, but the artist had labeled it “Greco Wrestling” and put them in an ancient Greek style wrestling arena.  The big deal, the big shocker to the guys, was that those two wrestlers were completely buck ass naked, very well endowed, and posed to show off the goods for all to see.  No, this artist doesn’t believe in censorship and is open about his Neo-Anarchist feelings.</p><p>“Aren’t you a little young for that?” the detective asked me.</p><p>“I’m twenty-one.” I replied, shoving the ARO back with the others.  A single mental click made it for my eyes only.</p><p>“So, about why I’m here.” the detective said, “It seems that you have an interest in what happened at LuCom, so I’d like to know.”</p><p>“Know, what?” I asked back.</p><p>“Everything.”</p><p>“We don’t have the time for that.”</p><p>Lucius cleared his throat.  “He knows we’re looking into Dean’s arrest.” he told me.</p><p>“Why didn’t you say so?” I asked.</p><p>“Not quite like you gave me a chance.”</p><p>“Um, maybe I should let you two settle your lover’s quarrel.” the detective told us.  Looking at Lucius he added, “I really should go call in that body you found behind the Soybucks, anyway.”  I felt Risa tense up beside me.</p><p>“Body?” I asked.  Yeah, I was kinda curious, but I also hoped I wouldn’t have to go look at it.  Or smell it.</p><p>“Yeah, dead homeless fellow.” the detective said, “Nothing to worry about, though.”</p><p>“What about the other guy behind the photo studio?” I asked.</p><p>That got the detective’s attention.  “Other guy?” he asked.</p><p>“Halfway down, like he sat down for a nap and never woke up.” I told him.</p><p>The detective sighed.  “Great, another one.” he muttered as he walked off.  I watched as he pulled a ‘link out of his pocket, literally unfolded it, and started poking his finger at it.</p><p>“What the hell is wrong with you?” hissed Lucius, now much closer to me and still looking rather upset.</p><p>“I was about to ask you why the fuck you didn’t actually call me ‘Little Lady’ like you always do.” I snapped back.  “Figured it was because we weren’t alone.”</p><p>That spark of realization hit him fast, the expression on his face softening really quick, shifting like hot wax.  Then he smirked and shook his head.</p><p>It didn’t take the detective long to make his call.  I guess he figured we were done as he walked back to us, pocketing his old looking ‘link.  “Everything straightened out?” he asked.</p><p>“Yeah, we’re fine.” Lucius replied.</p><p>“Good.  Didn’t want to have to call in a domestic too.”</p><p>“Oh, don’t worry, you wouldn’t have done that.” Lucius told him, “It would’ve been an assault and an ambulance.”</p><p>That confused the detective a little.</p><p>“We’re not really in any relationship.” Lucius explained, “And the last guy that got a little frisky with her ended up tasting the floor.  If she was really that pissed at me she’d’ve tried ripping an arm off, even with our big friend here.”  He jabbed a thumb at Brick.</p><p>This time it was the detective’s turn to shake his head and sigh.  “Well, self defense is one thing, but just please make sure you don’t take it too far, Miss Tomaselli.” he said to me.</p><p>“I’ll take it as far as I need to if it means I don’t end up like Alice.” I said darkly.</p><p>“I asked your… friend to keep me in the loop in case anything develops.” the detective said.  “Believe it or not we’re after the same thing here.”</p><p>“You’re not buying this whole… thing, are you.” I said.</p><p>“Hardly.”</p><p>“Then…  If you know…  Why…?”</p><p>“Why am I not arresting you?”  The detective gave me a thoughtful look and said, “Probably because doing so might just drop the crime rate a little, but letting you go do your thing might actually solve this case.”  Red and blue lights started to flicker against the shadows.  “Might be best if you all go.”</p><p>Risa got into Lucius’s car, Brick got back into Roland’s van, and I spent a little time putting my helmet back on before coaxing my Rapier to start back up.  I guess Roland either got a message or something because the windows blacked out to make a stark contrast to the white van.  I guess he was still in VR or something when the van pulled out.  Lucius pulled out onto the street to follow.</p><p>Not too far west from LuCom was a golf course that actually had plots of land set aside for a few baseball fields and a swimming pool.  We parked there where we all could talk more.  There were a few other cars still parked there, likely staff still working late.  It smelled a lot nicer here, mostly of wet cut grass.</p><p>“Alright,” Lucius said as he closed the door to his red sports car, “what’ve we got?”</p><p>“An aspiring grave robber.” Roland answered, holding up a commlink as he stepped out of his van.  Brick was right behind him.</p><p>“Thought it might be a clue.” the big ork said.  I’d gotten my helmet off and was just sitting down on the hood of Lucius’s car.</p><p>Lucius sighed.  “Find anything?”</p><p>“It’s completely fragged.  It’ll take hours just to get it running again.  Not like an old little Meta Link’s gonna be worth all that much.”</p><p>“So we’ve disturbed a crime scene, a dead body, for nothing.” Lucius muttered.</p><p>Thinking about the dead guy got my stomach churning again, the smell, the pallid look…</p><p>“Hey, you okay?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“I…” I tried to say, but was trying not to vomit again.  It wasn’t easy to stop thinking about that rank, sickly sweet smell…</p><p>“Okay, deep breaths.  And if you’ve gotta throw up, it’s alright.” Lucius told me.</p><p>It took a bit to try and clear my mind.  Yeah, a blond with a clear mind, ha ha.  It was actually a welcoming comfort feeling Risa sit next to me.</p><p>After a little bit my stomach finally stopped rolling over.  “Okay, I’m fine.”</p><p>“Do I even want to ask what you guys found?” Roland asked.</p><p>“Another body.” I answered.  I looked at the guys.  “What?  That detective said it.”</p><p>“Yeah, she’s right.” Lucius said.  “He was a wageslave.  Had a smiley face painted on his left temple.”</p><p>“Two dead bodies.” I softly said, “Think it’s connected?”</p><p>“Too much of a coincidence if they’re not.” Lucius answered.  “But besides being two dead bodies close to a crime scene, what’ve they got in common?”</p><p>“Maybe this could help?” Risa asked, procuring a commlink from one of her pockets.  Holy crap, a Transys Avalon?  Those things were expensive.  My Rapier was cheaper than that ‘link.</p><p>Lucius walked around to collect it from her.  He then passed it over to Roland.  He didn’t spend much time fiddling with it before saying, “It’s fragged like the other one.”</p><p>“Any idea how your guy died?” Lucius asked, looking to Brick.</p><p>The big ork simply shrugged his shoulders.  “Looked like he sat down, went to sleep, never woke up.”  After a thoughtful pause he added, “Maybe VR?”</p><p>“VR?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“He was wearing trodes.”</p><p>I looked over to Roland, who had already began tearing apart the Meta Link.  While not exactly standard for a commlink, a lot of people have a SIM module installed so they can use trodes to work with their ‘link, and even experience the virtual reality environments of matrix sites across the globe.  I wasn’t quite sure how it worked, but it pretty much translated your thought commands into computer commands, but on the flip side could also send signals back into your brain, which I think is how VR works.</p><p>“Yeah, there’s a SIM in this.” Roland announced, pulling a small… thing from inside the Meta Link.  “Can’t tell if it’s hot or cold, though.  Gotta plug it in a working ‘link for that.”</p><p>“What about Alice’s ‘link?” I asked.</p><p>“Think it might be a clue?” Roland asked.</p><p>“It’s worth looking into.” Lucius said.  “Besides, Dean did tell us that Knight was really interested in knowing where it was.  Clearly wasn’t on Alice’s body.”</p><p>I’ve never made any claim at being very imaginative at times.  This time the image of some random woman’s body jumped into my head, all pale and bloated, with little white maggots crawling…  I barely bent over in time to avoid throwing up on myself.   Now my stomach was starting to hurt.</p><p>“Gotta get that under control.” Roland told me.</p><p>Lucius waved him off.  “We can hit up a soybucks, if you’re feeling up to it.” he said, “Maybe get a little something mild into your stomach to help?  It’d also give Roland some time to figure if that SIM’s hot or cold before we start tracking down Alice’s ‘link.”</p><p>Lucius also didn’t let me drive, insisting that Brick put my bike and helmet in the back of the van.  Roland muttered something about not driving a delivery truck, but got the door unlocked anyway.</p><p>Risa rode in the back seat with me and Lucius as he drove us to a Soybucks on the corner of Evans and Franklin.  I tried not to feel twitchy about being a few blocks away from the university, silently hoping that I wouldn’t stumble on any of my friends while we were there.  I got myself a small latte, hoping it wouldn’t unsettle my stomach too much.  It didn’t taste all that good but the warmth it gave was comforting.</p><p>The others had gotten drinks too, but Roland opted to go sit in his van instead of with us.  None of us really said anything for a while.</p><p>It was Lucius, natch, that ended that.  “First time seeing a real dead body?”  His tone was gentle, and of course soft enough that you’d have to be at the table just to hear it.</p><p>I just closed my eyes and nodded my head.</p><p>“It might get easier for you, in time.” Lucius said.</p><p>“Easier?” I asked.</p><p>“The next time, maybe the smell won’t seem so bad.” Lucius offered.  “It’s never a good thing, finding a person like that.  Those that’ve really lost it are those that’ll walk right on by and not even really notice, let alone care.”</p><p>“What about Risa?” I asked.  “Did she…”  I noticed Risa turn her gaze away from me to stare rather intently at her drink.</p><p>“Honestly, no, she didn’t.” Lucius told me, “But she’s…  She has her own reasons.  It’s not really my place to say more.”</p><p>Well fuck, now I felt better.  Getting outshone by a ten year old who didn’t throw up at the smell of a dead body?  But then, just what kind of life might she have led to prep her for that?</p><p>“Is this also part of…  of…” I tried to say, to ask.</p><p>“Sometimes, yeah.   And it’s also one of those things that’s not really in the trids.” Lucius told me, figuring out what I was trying to ask.  “Of course, people are dying every day, but that’s not really much consolation when you’re trying to deal with it like you are now.”</p><p>With three hundred and sixty-five days in a year and several billion people on the planet, he was right.  Even after VITAS made the rounds decades ago and killed one or two billion people, there were still billions more.  By the odds there were thousands dying daily.</p><p>Still doesn’t make it any easier.</p><p>I was taking a good sip of my latte when Lucius’s head perked up, looking at some unseen ARO.  “Well, Roland’s finished up with those commlinks.” he told us.</p><p>“Repaired already?” Brick asked.</p><p>“Naw, just confirmed that the both of them were running hot SIMs.”</p><p>Okay, more tech talk shit that I don’t wholly get.  Seth had tried explaining it to me, but really dumbing it down is about as far as I got in understanding between hot and cold on these SIM modules in our commlinks.  The difference was in the signal strength to the brain, he told me, and he likened it to listening to music.  Cold SIM, the legal kind (like what was installed in my ‘link, of course), was like listening to music with your earbuds while still being able to hear things around you, and hot SIM blaring that music so loud that you’ll blow your eardrums out.  Something about how much the brain could handle, with cold being at a level that wouldn’t cause any permanent damage.</p><p>“Which helps pose the question, why would a homeless guy spend the extra cred for a hot modified SIM?” Lucius asked.</p><p>Actually I was wondering why would either of them have a hot SIM to begin with.  There’s all sorts of material saying how dangerous it is, how it’ll fry your brain and can kill you.  Someone even dug up an old flatvid recording of an anti-drug message using a frying pan and a real egg to use as an example of what a hot SIM does to your brain.</p><p>“But why hot SIM?” I asked.</p><p>“As Roland put it to me, in VR you get everything sharper and your reaction times are a lot faster when it’s not filtered by a cold SIM.” Lucius answered.  “It actually doesn’t make any difference if you’re using AR, though.”</p><p>Okay, now that was interesting.  Alright, so I’ve spent some time in VR, but it’s not my world, not my reality.  Yes, I put some effort into my personal icon, but it’s not like I went to some crazy next level shit like a hacker or technomancer will.</p><p>“Anyway, we’ve got a bead on our next potential clue.” Lucius added.  “Roland’s tracked down Alice’s commlink.”</p><p>“We’re going after it now?” Brick asked.</p><p>“Only potential clue we might have.” Lucius told us.  “If Knight was so keen on grilling Dean on where it was, means she didn’t have it on her body and they think it’s worth something.”  It seemed really cold how he said it.</p><p>We finished up our snacks and left the Soybucks, heading south until we almost reached their garage home before turning to go east on Hampden.  Roland led the way in his van.</p><p>As we got close something I think an old history teacher once said came back to me.  Prior to twenty-thirty-something the country that was the United States ceased to exist, but while it was around it had been called a “melting pot,” a country where a whole bunch of nationalities and cultures all got blended together.</p><p>As we got closer, my thoughts on that were, “Yeah, right.”</p><p>Back in Seattle, where I grew up, in Downtown there’s several foreign districts.  You’ve got the Japanese District, the Chinese District, and the Elven District.  I guess you could almost call the Aztechnology Pyramid there the Azzie District, in a way.  I’d been there only a few times, and it always felt like I was stepping out of Seattle and into a foreign land.  And if you really want to nitpick the Japanese and Chinese Districts are officially called the International District, but trust me, it’s split.  It’s hard to tell, and unless you’re paying attention to the AROs and the auto-translation of their signs you won’t notice the difference in the language.</p><p>Point I’m trying to make here, as we drove into Denver’s Chinatown, is that if the old USA was such a melting pot, then why were there places that felt like a piece of Asia had been scooped up and plopped down in Podunk, USA?</p><p>Happy Canyon was just outside the southeastern tip of the old Aztlan sector, but you’d never know their influence here.  No, hardly when Roland slowly drove past a shopping center that had, I shit you not, one of those really tall Chinese temple tower… thingies.  Maybe it’s called a pagoda?  I don’t know.  Anyway, it stood about in the middle of a ‘U’ shaped shopping complex.  None of the signs were written in English, but you could tell the Chinese influence from their translated names like Ichiban, Golden Dawn, Yin Yang, and Lotus Pond.</p><p>Despite the late hour, the place was hopping.  There were a few hundred people gathered by the temple, there were ropes with lights and lanterns strung up, and I think I caught some tables with food.</p><p>Roland slowly drove by, and about a block later pulled over into an empty parking lot.  Lucius parked beside the van.  We gathered in front of them.</p><p>“Looked like quite the party.” commented Roland.</p><p>“Yeah, could be a problem.” Lucius said.  “What’s your best bead on the ‘link?”</p><p>“Last store on the east.  Think the place’s called Red Wire.”</p><p>“Didn’t notice any other ways in, did you?”</p><p>Roland shook his head.</p><p>“That gonna be a problem?” I asked.</p><p>“Big Chinese party.” Brick answered.  I gave him a look, mentally cursing him since his answer didn’t really explain anything at all.</p><p>“Means it’s a big private party.” Lucius said.  “I didn’t get a good look because I was driving, but I’d bet they’re all Chinese.”</p><p>“And in this part of town that also means they’re likely Triad.” Roland added.</p><p>I let my eyes fall closed to that.  Okay, when it comes to the Triad I really don’t know much at all, other than they’re like a Chinese Mafia or something.  At best, it’s organized crime and if we piss them off they can make us disappear.</p><p>“I can call a spirit and have it hide us.” Risa told us.</p><p>“Will we be invisible?” Roland asked.</p><p>Risa shook her head.</p><p>“Something that’ll more likely distract someone from us?” Lucius asked.</p><p>This time Risa nodded.</p><p>Lucius sighed.  “Alright, hopefully it’ll be enough.  But let’s not try to be stupid about this, either.  After you’ve got that spirit here you hide yourself and Brick.  We’ll play it by ear after if something happens.”</p><p>Again Risa nodded.</p><p>I had no idea when the spirit was conjured, but I figured it was at some point before she simply disappeared.  A few seconds later Brick also vanished.  And I mean completely gone, not like last time when I could still sorta see Catherine.</p><p>Catherine…</p><p>It had only been two weeks…</p><p>No.  I can’t.  Not here.  Not now.</p><p>“Everything alright?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Yeah.  Just a… memory.” I told him, turning my eyes on him and giving him the hardest look I could muster.</p><p>“Risa, make sure you and Brick don’t get separated, and keep behind us.” Lucius said.</p><p>I hoped that wherever Risa’s spirit was it was doing what we wanted, to try and help hide us from being noticed.</p><p>Spirits weren’t really something I’d gotten into.  Working the few spells I knew had seemed to come a little more naturally, though I found I had to work at it to learn how to make something happen.  It wasn’t like I could just whip up a fireball out of my ass, though I’m sure I could somehow learn to do it.  But one of the things I do recall from the forced magical theories classes was that I’d have to create a lodge of some kind, something to my… tradition.  Maybe then I’d also be able to figure out how to summon spirits.  Maybe even bind them.</p><p>But even traditions didn’t make sense to me.  Magic wasn’t formulaic like the hermetics kept on preaching about.  Magic also didn’t feel like it was coming from nature or totems or whatever like the shamans all insisted.  Fuck, I even tried searching some sites on the matrix to try and figure out what others thought.  Boy, let me tell you, there’s a bunch.  A dozen at least I’d been able to find, and none of them seemed to make a lick of sense.  There are a lot that’re also really religious.  There’s a few super obvious ones, of course; Christians, Jews, Muslims, they’ve all got their own idea of how magic works (and some of them are also super anti-magic, too).  Not so obvious are those that follow the old Norse, Greek, and Egyptian gods of the old world.  And don’t forget the Wiccans and Druids and more.  Even voodoo’s real, though I’ve only seen a MeFeed! of someone conjuring a <em>loa</em> to possess a person.</p><p>And none of them seem to get it right.</p><p>And yes, there’s a tradition called Chaos that’s kinda a “melting pot” of these traditions, taking bits and pieces, the gems of other traditions, and putting it all together.  There’s more than one reason why it’s an apt name, because apparently it’s also all a jumble; one mage’s treasure is another’s trash.  They’re the easiest ones to start a flame war online, too.  All you gotta do is disagree with someone about a theory, post something different that also supposedly works, and everyone gets pissier than a German dwarf during Oktoberfest.</p><p>Okay, point about spirits in all of this.  As far as I’ve been able to understand there’s ten different kinds of spirits that people can summon, like the fire elemental Risa conjured the first time I met her.  Each tradition is able to conjure up five, and somehow they also matter to the different kinds of magic spells that’re known.  I really don’t get how this works, but somehow it does to everyone else.  Maybe shamans just intuitively know they can’t call up fire spirits, or the Aztec… whatever, can’t call up any elementals but water ones.  I don’t know!</p><p>If I ever managed to conjure a spirit to help fight for me, I really haven’t a fucking clue what kind it’ll be.  Knowing my luck it’ll be some ugly werebeast monstrosity that’ll gobble me up for some kind of payment.</p><p>Anyway, the party seemed to be going on as normal as we walked around the corner of Red Wire to the store’s front door.</p><p>Roland headed up to the door first.  To be expected there was a “Closed” sign on it, a physical one printed in four different languages.  There was also a maglock securing the door, to which Roland pulled out a small bundle from a coat pocket.</p><p>“He can teach you this later if you’re interested.  Keep an eye on the party.” Lucius told me.</p><p>I took a step back and turned to look at the party.  If I had to guess I’d say all the people were Chinese, and a lot of them were really nicely dressed.  I might be able to afford something like it if I spent all my money on a single ensemble.  A few of the other places here were restaurants, and they were kinda open for business, catering to the big party.</p><p>It was about when I started thinking this was taking forever when Roland announced that he’d gotten the lock disabled.  Lucius held the door open for me as I slipped inside.</p><p>Okay, if the name “Red Wire” inspires images of some random generic electronics store, you’d be right.  Open shelves of boxes of parts I couldn’t really figure out decorated much of the place.  Just off to the side of the door was the checkout counter.  Towards the back there was another door.</p><p>“So, which way?” asked Lucius.</p><p>Roland looked like he was consulting some ARO readout, then pointed up.  “Upstairs.” he said.</p><p>Lucius immediately went to the door at the back.  It was locked.</p><p>“Yeah, yeah.” grumbled Roland as he walked over to the door.  He reached into another pocket and pulled out a smaller bundle than the first.  He unrolled it, pulled out two narrow things, and shoved them into the lock where the key went.</p><p>Okay, okay, it’s my first time seeing lock picks.</p><p>It didn’t seem to take long for Roland to force the lock and get the door open.  Lucius led the way up a narrow flight of stairs up to the second floor.  If the shopping floor was a little crowded, the upper floor was claustrophobic.  Generic brown boxes were piled up all over the place so high they were practically against the ceiling.  There was some sort of path, too.</p><p>“Shit, there’s gonna be trouble.” commented Lucius.</p><p>When I got near the top of the stairs I stopped.  I guess because Lucius said something I didn’t totally freak out or shriek when I saw a dead man lying on the floor.  I didn’t take my eyes off him as I slowly walked the rest of the way up.  He looked Asian, was probably Chinese (honestly I couldn’t tell; just took a guess), dressed in that classic black suit with the blackout shades and all.  I could tell he’d been shot in the back because I could see the torn little hole that was made by the bullet.</p><p>“Doesn’t smell like he’s been dead for long.” Roland added.</p><p>“They.” Lucius corrected.  When I looked over to him I saw another dead man, slumped in an office chair by a desk.  It looked like he’d been shot in the side of the neck, which was half covered in blood.</p><p>And Roland was right.  These guys didn’t smell at all like the body Brick and I found earlier.  They also still looked… normal.  Well, aside from the blood.  Okay, now my stomach was starting to feel just a little queasy.</p><p>In front of the guy in the chair was a desk, with an old fashioned computer terminal, a gun, and a commlink sitting on it.</p><p>“Shit.” muttered Roland when he saw the other guy.  “We should just grab the ‘link and go.”</p><p>I was the closest to it when Roland said that, so I grabbed the ‘link and pocketed it.</p><p>That’s about when it came at us.  Okay, I’m not quite sure what it was right at the moment, but when boxes come tumbling down towards you you’re not gonna be in the right frame of mind to think if it’s a troll or a dragon or whatever that’s charging right at you.  It looked like a demon made of clouds, humanoid with a set of horns spiraling upward, and transparent.  When its gaze settled on me I felt something hit me, like I’d just downed a bottle of T-Bird Fuel or something.  I focused my eyes on the cloud-thing, fought to keep my balance, my mind clear.  Something must’ve worked because I didn’t hit the floor.</p><p>“Be gone!” Risa yelled as loudly as she probably could.  I barely noticed she had raised her hands up, like she was ordering it to stop.  It reacted bodily and blew out like the smoke from a birthday cake candle.  My mind was cleared up just as quickly.</p><p>“Shit, air spirit.  We’re made.” Roland said.</p><p>“Out!  Now!” barked Lucius.</p><p>Didn’t have to tell me twice.</p><p>I didn’t bother taking the stairs properly as I hopped the edge and dropped halfway down.  I hit the stairs practically running, and was the first one to reach the door.  Hey, I figured we’d regroup at our vehicles, or at least just buzz turbo once we got there.</p><p>When I tried to bolt out the door I slammed hard into something, well, hard.  Ever walk into a perfectly clean glass door?  I wish I had as I might’ve broken my way through when I hit it.</p><p>“What is it?” Lucius asked.  He was right behind me.</p><p>I didn’t answer him.  Instead I put a hand on the invisible barrier and put all of my willpower against it, pushing through it with my hand and my mind at the same time.  It felt like trying to tear through plastic wrap, and I felt the backlash of magical energies hit me in the brain.  Ow.</p><p>Hey, it’s not so easy to break a spell once it’s set.</p><p>Still not saying anything I rushed right on outside.</p><p>Coming up the sidewalk from my left were a bunch of your classic Chinese goons in black.  You know, black suits, black shades, short cut hair, etc.  When they saw me they pulled out guns, which I took as my cue to buzz turbo.</p><p>I didn’t just start running from them.  I took off at a full on sprint.  Boy was I glad they didn’t shoot me, though they must’ve found some rocks or something to throw at me since something hit me in the back before I managed to get around the corner to run down the street.  Three paces down, when I figured I was out of their sight, I focused my mind, gathered up a bit of power, and made myself invisible again.  I held that spell while I ran, and I darted around another corner as soon as I could.  I pressed myself up against the wall and trying to imagine myself like I was part of the wall.</p><p>I wish I knew how long I waited.  Maybe a minute?  Two?  And yes, I was holding my invisibility spell this whole time.</p><p>Carefully I turned back around the corner just a little, just enough to peek and see, well, what I could see.</p><p>Nobody was there.</p><p>I turned back around again, pressing up against the wall like I was trying to help hold it up as I let my spell fade away.</p><p>“<em>Scheiße</em>.” I hissed through my teeth.  Great, now I felt like crap for ditching the others.  It wasn’t like we had some kind of group chat going now, and I guess I could try calling or texting one of the others, but that really felt like a bad idea right now.  I could just imagine some metal riff going off from Lucius’s ‘link right when he’s trying to be sneaky or something.</p><p>I figured I’d just wait a bit, so to try and have something to do too I pulled out Alice’s ‘link.  It was still running, but oddly it wasn’t locked or anything.</p><p>Weird.</p><p>Okay, normally I wouldn’t do something like this with someone else’s ‘link, but considering Alice was dead and Dean still needed our help to clear his name I started poking around.</p><p>She had a whole mess of pics saved in her gallery, and a bunch of the most recent ones were either of Dean or her with Dean.  Shit, they kinda made a cute couple.</p><p>Alright, I really have no idea what I’m doing here.</p><p>I tried looking through a few other things, running apps, music playlists, that sort of thing.  I couldn’t find anything that’d give us a clue why someone bothered taking it halfway across the city.  Sighing I put it back in my pocket again.</p><p>Maybe I oughtta take a lesson or two from Seth about commlinks and such.</p><p>“Oh, hey, there you are.” I heard Lucius say.</p><p>I practically jumped out of my skin!  I think I shrieked too.</p><p>“Whoa, easy!” Lucius cried out, hands up in that ‘calm down’ gesture.</p><p>“Don’t do that.” I grumbled, scowling at him as I hit him in the chest with the back of my hand.  It looked like we weren’t too far from where we parked so I started stalking back to his car.</p><p>“Well, glad you’re okay too.” Lucius told me, his tone changing.</p><p>I stopped, closed my eyes, and sighed.  “What happened?” I asked.</p><p>“Well, after you bolted we saw a bunch of guards run after you.” Lucius told me, which was something I’d figured out myself already.  “They tried shooting you but it looks like they’re horrible shots.”</p><p>“Wait,” I said, turning to face him, “they tried shooting me?  No, that’s not possible.”</p><p>“Suppressors and subsonic ammo.” Lucius said, “You’d be lucky to hear the hammers on their guns.”</p><p>My hand reached around to the spot where I thought I’d gotten hit by a rock.</p><p>“You okay?”</p><p>“It…  It’s nothing.” I told him, putting my hand back down.</p><p>“Well, after you ran and the guards ran past we waited a little bit and left on our own.  But those guards were coming back after they lost you, so we had to split and buzz out.  I figure they didn’t have orders to catch us if we made it too hard for them.”</p><p>“So you all just… ran off on your own way…”</p><p>“And regrouped where we parked.” Lucius finished.</p><p>I looked back to the van and car and saw Risa walking over to us.</p><p>“C’mon.  I’m sure Roland will want to look at Alice’s ‘link.” Lucius told me.</p><p>There apparently was no hurry as we walked back to the others, though Risa seemed in quite the hurry to get to us.  She was right at my side the rest of the way.  When we got closer I pulled out Alice’s ‘link and handed it to Roland.  He pulled out his own ‘link, hooked the two together with a data cable, and started doing… whatever.  We stood there, waiting while Roland worked.</p><p>“Well, there’s an open connection going somewhere.” he finally told us.  He handed the ‘link back to me, saying, “Got all I need off it.”</p><p>I took it, figuring I got nominated to return it to Dean.</p><p>“Any idea where this other point is?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Yeah, back in Englewood.”</p><p>Ever have one of those days where you feel like you’re just going all over the place?</p><p>We took a bit of windy route around Happy Canyon, mostly to avoid getting spotted by any of those security goons, just in case someone had a good eye for faces or vehicles.  We’d passed back underneath the I-25 as we headed west when a trideo ad for Girls And Friends popped up into my view.  I mentally swiped the ad away, which was immediately replaced by another trideo ad for Nightman 3.  When that was swiped away two more popped up, and more, and more.</p><p>“What’s wrong?” Lucius asked as we came to a red traffic light.</p><p>I physically swiped my hand through the AROs, banishing a whole bunch, some of which I noticed were for breast enhancement, penis enhancement, tampons, and some Japanese interactive loli sim (ew, gross).  I had to pop the seat belt so I’d be loose enough to start wiggling out of my jacket, at least so I could get my left arm free enough to take my commlink off (drawback to having pants with no pockets, I guess).  My vision was utterly cluttered with pop-ups that I had to close my eyes and go by feel to find the battery case to my ‘link and pop it open.  I didn’t open my eyes until I was holding the battery, and thankfully the spam was all gone.</p><p>“Okay, why the contortionist act?” Lucius asked.</p><p>I plopped the pieces to my ‘link in my lap before wiggling back into my jacket.  “Spam filter fucked up, crashed, or something.” I told him.  I sighed as I got to hooking my seatbelt back up.</p><p>“Kinda weird when you get it after we’ve left a spam zone.”</p><p>Bracing my arm against the window I put my chin in my hand to look out at the buildings as they went passing by.  Kinda interesting how the lights brought life to the city after dark, something completely different, alien to what you see while the sun’s up.</p><p>Even when the sun is up.</p><p>Wait, since when’s the sun up after 22.00?  No, we’re not in the arctic or anywhere that far north.</p><p>“You see that?” I asked, pointing at a bright yellow orb hanging in the sky way off to our right.</p><p>“No, what?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“It’s like the sun’s hanging out over there.” I told him.</p><p>“Hang on.” Lucius told me, slowing down so he could find a spot to pull over.  When he stopped I unbelted myself from the car and got out.  Okay, it didn’t really look like the sun.  It was more like a multi-pointed star, white and twinkly, off in the distance.  And before you say it, no, it wasn’t a real star or planet or something.  There’s too much light pollution in Denver to really see any stars at all.</p><p>“What do you see?  Where is it?” Lucius asked me.</p><p>“You don’t see it?” I asked back.  “It’s right there, big and bright and pretty damned obvious.”  I pointed straight at it, too, gave him some time to try and track it down too before I put my arm back down.</p><p>I just about jumped out of my skin when Lucius waved a hand in front of my face.  “You still with us?” he asked.</p><p>“Yeah, of course.” I told him.</p><p>“Okay, because you’ve been standing there for ten minutes now, and Roland’s gotten a bead on your sun.”</p><p>“Oh, okay.”  Yeah, that was weird.</p><p>“Aren’t you the least bit curious?”</p><p>“We’re going there?”</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>We got back into his car and headed off.  When he reached University Boulevard he turned north, going past the university and my dorm.  At one point the boulevard ended and it turned into York Street.  We kept on going for quite a ways, the star still floating in the sky and hanging off just a little to the left.  We’d past a park and a golf course before Lucius turned onto 26th Avenue, putting the star from way to the left to practically straight ahead again.  A few more twists and turns and Lucius was parking practically underneath that star.  It was floating above a two story building with a business logo and name “Karakuchi Corporation” that was across an intersection.  At another corner was a coffee shop bistro that was open despite the late hour, and with a few dozen patrons sitting outside.  It smelled kinda nice over that way as I got out of the car.  There were also a whole bunch of cars in the lot, and maybe about a dozen of them had people sitting in them, which seemed kinda weird.</p><p>“Roland says he’ll be here in a bit.” Lucius told me.  “Seems his van’s having problems.”</p><p>“Oh, okay.” I replied, sitting back against the hood to look up at the star.</p><p>“Well now, that’s weird.” Lucius said.  When I looked over to him he was pointing down 26th.</p><p>There was a group of about a dozen people walking up the street towards us.  Well, sorta towards us since they were on the other side.  Most of them looked like gangers and street punks, but one of them really stood out.  She had a silver walking stick, black hair that was a bit longer than mine and slicked back like she’d just walked out of the shower, and she wore a heavy looking black jacket that reached down just past her hips.</p><p>The whole group stopped at the corner, looking as if they were about to cross the street to the building that the star was floating above.  The nicely dressed woman waved her stick in the air, then pointed it at the building, saying, “Once again we are called to defeat the corrupt, and once again we shall be victorious!”</p><p>In the sky above them leapt up a bunch of different kinds of animals.  Bears, rabbits, squirrels, and the sort.  They all flew at the building.  The woman’s appearance also changed, her stick became a silver sword and she was fully dressed in chain mail.</p><p>“Godz, Dambusters, Fronts, they’d never work together.” I heard Lucius say.</p><p>The doors to the building opened up on their own, and the woman and her entourage started across the street, heading straight for it.  They’d gotten about halfway across the street when a security guard came out.  He hadn’t gotten more than a few steps out when he suddenly became a demon, all scales, red skin, and those little black wings popping out of his back.</p><p>“Whoa, hey!” Lucius cried out, suddenly in my way and grabbing hold of me, “What’re you doing?”</p><p>“What am I doing?” I asked back.  I felt something heavy in my right hand.  My Colt.  How’d that get there?</p><p>“Yeah.  Looked like you were about to shoot the security guard.”  He grabbed my gun and with some kind of twist pulled it out of my hand.</p><p>That was about when my head started feeling like I was spinning around and around.  I saw Lucius turn back to look at the group, and they had just about mobbed up on the demon.  Problem was it had created some kind of force field around itself, little ripples of light flickered as they pounded on it.</p><p>My head cleared up just a little when Lucius turned on them and with my gun started shooting at them.  “No!” I yelled out, jumping on him, trying to grab my gun as his skin turned red and scaly.  He did something, rolled his shoulder I think, and I found myself flat on my back on the ground.</p><p>Someone came rushing up to my aid, and the demon with my gun spun around to face them.  It dropped my Colt to perform some kind of martial arts move to throw the person off balance.  But there were more people behind that one, and they seemed to keep coming.  They pretty much ignored me as the demon backed off, not really hurting people but still doing… something to keep dodging them, pushing them off balance and the sort.</p><p>My gun hadn’t gone too far, and I half crawled over to it to pick it up.  My head was swimming again like I’d downed a glass of T-Bird fuel, so I was careful to stand back up slowly.  I saw more demons, a little one that held its hands out, creating another force field to keep the people at bay, and a fucking huge one that just plowed into everyone.</p><p>“Shoot the woman!” I heard Lucius yell.  When I turned to look at him I saw the demon that had thrown me.  Okay, where was that pain in the ass elf?</p><p>Something hit me in the head.  Well, that’s what it felt like anyway.  More like getting an ice pick driving in through the temple, and fuck did it hurt.  Bad enough it drove me to my knees as I tried to hold my head in my hands.</p><p>Okay, too much strange shit happening.  I couldn’t see Lucius, and for some reason a thought crossed my mind, something about reckless and crazy working right about now.  Don’t give me that look, I haven’t a clue where it came from.</p><p>So I opened up my Third Eye.</p><p>Right, so trying to read the auras of a whole bunch of people while in the middle of a whole bunch of people, not recommended.  Hard as hell to do when you’re not really good at it like I am.</p><p>But I did manage to spot Lucius, and he was getting mobbed.  No, wait, the demon that threw me was getting mobbed.  Ouch, fuck, my head was hurting.</p><p>“Shoot that woman!” I think I heard Lucius yell.  When your senses are mixed with the astral things get muddled a bit.</p><p>I did my best to make myself think.  I’d spotted Lucius, but the demon…  No, gotta forget the demon.  Focus, Shay, focus.</p><p>Lucius’s aura was loaded with fear, I could sense that.</p><p>Everyone else around him was full of rage, so much it was crazy.</p><p>The mob that had crossed the street, when I looked at them, was full of rage too.</p><p>No, not the whole mob.  There was one aura that wasn’t raging out.  Not the big one that was getting overwhelmed by people, but one more… my size.  Was this that business lady Lucius had yelled about?  She had no implants, wasn’t awakened, seemed extremely calm and confident despite all the shit going down, and something else that just seemed… off.  I couldn’t put my finger on it.</p><p>Keeping my senses focused on the glowy mass of confidence, I brought my Colt up, tried to aim as best as I could, and shot at her.  Twice.</p><p>I must’ve hit her, there was no other explanation I could think of when the calm and confident one suddenly jerked once, twice, and fell down.</p><p>Something hit me from behind in the leg, and I dropped down to one knee.  Then I felt something hit me in the back again and again.  That was just before the whole world seemed to explode into fire.</p><p>For a time there was only pain, like my whole body was dipped in acid and set on fire.  For a subjective eternity that’s all I felt, and that was before some inconsiderate asshole started shining a spotlight in my eyes.</p><p>“Get that fucking light out of my face.” I muttered, managing to bring up a hand to swat it away.</p><p>I heard Lucius laugh.  “I think she’ll be fine.”</p><p>Thankfully the light went away.  I blinked a few times, now that my eyes weren’t feeling like little balls of fiery star matter in my skull.  The world was relatively dark, except for a few spots of brighter light that I could at least look at for a little bit.</p><p>“How do you feel?” I heard someone ask.</p><p>“Ouch.” I muttered, closing my eyes.</p><p>“Anywhere specific, or just all over?”</p><p>“Everything.  Even my hair.”</p><p>“Might be a dumpshock side effect.” that someone said, though I don’t think it was towards me.  “Just let her rest overnight and get her to a hospital if things don’t improve by morning.”  It sounded like he stormed off, stomping every footstep because he could.</p><p>There was more crunching, like a landslide of truck sized boulders.  With a considerably softer voice Lucius said, “Just take it easy.  You’re sitting in my car right now.  It’s all over.”</p><p>“Over?”</p><p>“Yeah.  That woman with the silver cane was behind it all.” Lucius told me.</p><p>I groaned as I tried to think, things were feeling way too muddled.</p><p>“We’ll talk later.  Just rest up, or take a nap, or whatever you like.” Lucius said.</p><p>Honestly, what I’d like right now was to peel out of my skin and soak in a hot tub.  What I think I really did was black out completely.</p><p>Well, not for long.  Lucius was shaking my shoulder to rouse me.  “What?” I asked, probably sounding a lot crankier and whinier than I’d’ve liked to.  Besides, my eyes felt too sore to want to look at anything.</p><p>“Detective Diamond’s here,” Lucius told me, “and he’d like to have Alice’s commlink.”</p><p>“Fine.” I muttered, pulling her ‘link out of my jacket pocket.  At least someone took it, so I let my hand drop where it would.</p><p>The next thing I knew the door at my side was opening.  Trying to look I think I saw we were at the garage again.</p><p>“Awake again?” I heard Lucius ask.</p><p>I turned to get out of the car, but only one leg obeyed.  It was rather embarrassing to have Lucius catch me as I nearly hit the floor.  My left leg was completely useless as he pulled me upright and out of the car.  Being grabbed by the armpits hurts.</p><p>“Okay,” Lucius said as he manhandled me, getting to my left side to help keep me upright, “do you want to try for your room or just crash on the couch?”</p><p>I tried lifting my head to look up, to look ahead of me, and felt my stomach roll over.  Still I did not feel like crashing on the couch, though I couldn’t quite see that far very clearly.  “Room.” I managed to say.  Bet I sounded drunk.</p><p>Together we hobbled over to the stairs, and pretty much made it without a problem.</p><p>“Leg working yet?” Lucius asked.</p><p>I thought about wiggling my left foot.  Nothing.  I shook my head.</p><p>“Well then, just one step at a time.”</p><p>And so it was.  Lucius would step up and holding me I’d take a hop.  Then he’d take another step up and I’d hop up the next step.  I was really tired and sore by the time we made it to the top.  Missing a step a few times didn’t help.  But we managed, and I was oh so glad when I was able to turn and drop down onto the bed.</p><p>“Well, I’ll let you be.” Lucius told me, and without anything more to say simply left the room, closing the door behind him.</p><p>All I could really think about was how blissful sleep would be right now.  Stripping down was the hard part, though, but somehow I managed to get out of my clothes and under a blanket, all the while my left leg was still not cooperating.</p><p>At least I think that’s what happened.</p>
<hr/><p>There honestly wasn’t a whole lot to the next day.  I really slept in late, but the others had let me get up on my own.  Was Roland’s idea, really.  He suggested that the best thing for me to sleep off the effects of a Better-Than-Life dumpshock.</p><p>Now I’d never played one of those chips before, but I’ve read a lot about them.  There were occasional ad campaigns in the trids and such about their dangers.  Programs stored on a little chip that you’d slot in your ‘link, gives you a fantasy so real it’s addictive.  People find these to be preferable to their regular lives, hence the name.</p><p>And that apparently was what happened to myself and all the other zombies that that woman was leading.  There wasn’t any program that could be found, no unusual chips in peoples’ ‘links, but just about everyone there was showing the signs of BTL withdrawal.  The commlinks of everyone involved had also been illegally modified SIM modules so they ran hot (including Alice’s).  There’s also an ad of a kid who slotted a BTL and had gotten his ‘link hot modified, and is now in a coma on a respirator.  I think I got lucky.</p><p>Well, we all did really.  No one died that night.  I learned from the others that Risa had managed to create a kind of barrier around that security guard.  Apparently when that happened she too had turned into some kind of demon looking thing along with that guard, Lucius, and Brick.  Roland said even I had turned into one at the very end.  Two others had clobbered me and I went down before everyone started grabbing their heads in pain and dropped.  A few had DocWagon bracelets, which had triggered the cops and EMTs to show up when that happened.</p><p>That afternoon we went down to the precinct where Dean was being held, at Don Casquilho invite.  He paid us once Dean was officially released and out on the street.</p><p>I went on my own way after that.  At first I had thought of just crashing in my dorm room (praying the porn wasn’t on next door), but instead I ended up going right back out to jog around Washington Park.  Seemed such a waste of a nice day.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Not one of my favored chapters thus far, particularly the scene at Red Wire.  It took a while to figure out how to write this one, especially to be different than the original work I wrote years ago.</p><p>The shower scene near the beginning, however, wasn't entirely planned but I think is one of the best parts of this chapter.  Not the nude girl-on-girl relationship material but Shay's hallucination of Catherine while in the shower.</p><p>This is also about as far as I've gotten in this rewrite.  No, I didn't just crank these chapters out in a day; I started this months ago, and only now have gotten around to posting them anywhere.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Flip Side</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Popularity has its perks, many people seek out being liked and famous.  But for a coyote on the lamb being popular is often more trouble than its worth...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Based on the mission written by Stephen McQuillan:</p><p>I’d swear I could feel my brain turning to mush to ooze out of my ears as I bent over the table to rest my head, my head crashing through the ARO I had been trying to read like it wasn’t really there.</p><p>“What the hell does the arcano-conservation of energy have to do with the economic stratification of Aztlan?” I asked, my voice muffled by my arms.</p><p>“<em>Nani</em>?” Hanako asked back.</p><p>I turned my aching head to one side so I could look up at Hanako.  “Some nitwit thinks that mana’s tied to Aztlan’s economy.  Isn’t that what money’s for?  And what’s this got to do with conservation?  That country’s not exactly… known for…”  I groaned and put my head into my hands.</p><p>Hanako sweetly smiled.  “I think we need a break.”</p><p>I pushed myself back upright, letting my head roll back so I could stare at the ceiling.  Now most girls would probably be embarrassed, but I only smirked when my stomach gurgled.</p><p>It was a bit of a walk from the library to a place that Hanako wanted to try called Calvin’s Pizza Kitchen.  I think I’d seen the place but I’ve never eaten here.  “<em>…ragged they kill, down in the cool air I can see…</em>” sang a gravelly voice as drums and bass guitars pounded out a heavy beat when we walked in through the door.  It was a bit after lunch so the place wasn’t too busy, but the air was still heavy with pizza smells.  Those smells made me feel really hungry now.</p><p>The place was setup like a fast food place.  You stood in line to get to the counter to tell someone what you wanted on your personal sized pizza, and after it was built it was cooked up right on the spot.  Nothing like some chain over in the PCC that I’d heard about that tried to use predictive analytics or something to try and prepare exactly how much food they were gonna need in a given day.  I’d gotten a medium sized pizza loaded with meats and cheese and drizzled with barbecue sauce while Hanako had gotten something smaller with just chicken with a white sauce.  We took our meals over to a little bar-height table by the front windows and sat down to eat.  Already I was feeling much better.  Isn’t studying all the time bad for your brain?</p><p>We were about halfway through our pizzas when an icon appeared in my field of view.  It was an incoming call, and when I mentally clicked the [Accept] icon I saw Miguel’s big mug fill the ARO that opened up from that icon, all bald head, swarthy skin, and that gold tusk of his.  This time it looked like he was wearing a black leather jacket and white shirt, something that must’ve been more comfortable than that gray suit last time.  Answering it this way meant that he saw my online icon instead of the real me, the sci-fi space age (and better looking) me.</p><p>“Oy chummer.” he said, “You’ze got some work tonight.  The boss needs to find a lost bird and you’ve been tapped.  Aight?”</p><p>I growled, but before I could say anything at all he plowed right on.  “Good, so don’t be keepin’ the boss waiting.  I’ll meet you at Casquilho Imports at six o’clock.  Go to the back door, and don’t try and be some wise guy askin’ for the Don up front.  Don’t worry, you’ll see me.”</p><p>“Big lug like you, how could I miss?” I asked him, putting some sass into my voice and immediately hoped he wouldn’t take it like I was coming on to him.</p><p>Miguel simply chuckled before pocketing his ‘link, which chose then to hang up the call, closing out the ARO.</p><p>“What was that all about?” asked Hanako.</p><p>“Means I got work tonight.” I told her.</p><p>We took our time eating the rest of our meal.  While we ate I did a discrete search on this Casquilho Imports place.  Didn’t get much more than that it was an antique shop on Tower Road, in the UCAS sector.  Well, at least I knew where the fuck I was going, but if I had to be there by six then I had rush hour traffic to contend with.  Shit, now if only I could remember that way under the border…</p><p>Shit, it’s been a month and already I’m starting to think like a criminal.  Must be contagious.</p><p>Hanako and I went back to the campus, and from there parted ways.  She lived somewhere else compared to me, and probably in a much nicer place than the broom closet that was my dorm room.  I changed my clothes, swapped chips in my ‘link, and was off again on my Rapier.  I managed to catch the border at the start of the rush hour push, so thankfully it didn’t take too long to get across.</p><p>Casquilho Imports was just a bit east of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Park, but you wouldn’t know it for the cluster of warehouse buildings.  There was a rather obvious sign plastered to the front of the building so it wasn’t too hard to miss, but I remembered what Miguel had said so I took it slow as I drove into a dark alley to get behind the building.  Certainly had seen better days since there was plenty of trash to clutter the place.  Maybe it’d look better in the daylight.  With the sun now behind the Rockies this looked more like a place decent people didn’t visit.</p><p>At least the big lug certainly wasn’t hard to miss, especially in my headlight.  Even more so when he tugged at a red necktie that completed the ensemble of a poorly fitted suit.  I parked my bike next to the building, but didn’t dismount or anything.  He simply grunted and nodded at me, but we didn’t say anything to each other.</p><p>About fifteen minutes later a familiar looking van pulled into the back alley, the headlights might’ve been blinding if the visor of my helmet hadn’t blocked out the sudden bright lights.  Once it was parked Lucius and the others got out.</p><p>Miguel said nothing.  Instead he used a big meaty hand to try and adjust his tie (again) before he pounded twice on the door.  He then opened it and motioned us inside.  I still left my helmet on, the visor automatically adjusting the lowlight enhancement so I could see clearly.</p><p>There didn’t seem to be any chance of us getting lost inside.  Right from the back door we were in a storage room.  It looked like it had been remade into an office.  Don Casquilho sat behind a simple desk, his same two bodyguards as last time flanking him.  With all the crates and stuff around it felt like the secret back room of a museum.  It also looked like Don Casquilho had been working here for most of the day, his suit jacket was draped over his chair and his not-a-clip-on tie was pulled way loose.</p><p>“Come in, come in.” Don Casquilho said, waving at us to come join him.  “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”</p><p>“Miguel gave me a little bit about this.” Lucius said, “Something about a lost bird?”</p><p>Had this been last month I might’ve blurted out that he could go to a pet shop for another.  Instead I kept my mouth shut and listened.  I’d learned that if I did that, and let Lucius do most of the talking, I’d get an idea of what the job was without sounding like the dumb blond I looked like.</p><p>“His name is Terry.” Don Casquilho told us, “He does… deliveries.  But he hasn’t been seen for a while, and I’m afraid he might’ve gotten spooked.  I don’t have the people to spare to go looking for him, so I’d like you to do it.  I know you can find him.  I believe it.  Please, find Terry and bring him home.  I want to know what happened to him.”</p><p>“And of course you’ll pay us.” Lucius said.</p><p>“Of course, of course.” the Don reassured us, “You’ll each get a thousand nuyen now and an additional seventy-five hundred nuyen if you manage to find Terry and bring him home.”</p><p>I think that was about the same as this Falcone guy paid us to find someone.</p><p>“So guys, what do you think?” Lucius asked, turning to the others.</p><p>They all agreed.</p><p>“Little Lady?” Lucius asked, turning to me.</p><p>“Sure.” I offhandedly said.</p><p>“Good.  Good.” the Don said.  He opened a desk drawer and pulled out a folder, an honest to ghost paper folder, and handed it to Lucius.  “Should be everything you need to get you started.  And please, hurry.  I worry about the poor boy.” he said as he pulled out five credsticks and placed them towards the far side of his desk.  We each took one.</p><p>After we had walked back out the back door, Miguel walked in and left us outside.</p><p>“Somethin’s fishy.” Roland said.</p><p>“Maybe, but there’s not much we can do about it now.” agreed Lucius.</p><p>“So, what’ve we got?”</p><p>“A picture.” Lucius said, pulling out an actual hardcopy pic from the folder.  It got passed around so we all could get a look.  I guess the couple in the foreground were Terry and his wife.  She was sitting in his lap, arms around him like couples do, wearing relaxed and comfortable clothes.  His left hand was on hers and I could see their wedding rings.</p><p>“And it looks like someone’s contact info, too.” Lucius added.  He pulled out his commlink.  “I think this coyote’s probably the better one to start with.”</p><p>Made sense to me, especially if these two smugglers knew each other.  I didn’t really listen to Lucius as I walked over to my bike and got on, kinda letting my mind go blank.</p><p>“Alright,” Lucius said loudly, “we got a place to go.”</p><p>It was a long drive and we went at a sedate pace.  I didn’t follow too closely to Roland’s van as we went, more south in the UCAS sector, and towards a not so nice neighborhood.</p><p>The Aurora Warrens.  Where Catherine…</p><p>We didn’t actually go into the area designated as the Warrens, though the GPS in my ‘link warned me about the area we were in.  I mentally clicked it away.</p><p>Not like I needed that warning anyway.  The neighborhood looked rundown.  The squat buildings were old, chipped… something over brick walls, all the windows had bars, and virtually all of the storefronts had steel gates that had come down for the night.  Only one place looked like it was still open, the only place with lights on, American Gun Supply, and I could figure an easy reason why:  who’d want to rob a place where the owner’s got his entire inventory to use to kill you?</p><p>At that store’s corner of Mississippi Avenue and Gun Club Road (there was a physical sign, the paint was faded) was a human woman.  She was about my height with dark blond hair that was pulled back into a ponytail.  She had an open over shirt in a camo pattern, dark green tank top underneath that, tight blue jeans, and brown synthleather hiking boots (lowlight vision mods are wiz).  We parked our vehicles, and I left my helmet on as we walked over to her.</p><p>“Lucius?” she asked.</p><p>“Right here, Jana.” Lucius replied, raising a hand.</p><p>Jana cinched up a backpack and waved for us to follow her.  After a short walk she stopped at a manhole cover and dropped her pack.</p><p>“Hope you boys and girls don’t mind walking.” she said as she unzipped the pack.  She pulled out a crowbar and used it to move the manhole cover.</p><p>At least my own boots were the comfortable type for long walks.  Last month I probably would’ve been wearing shoes that would’ve easily given me blisters after a long walk.</p><p>And a long walk it was.  We started off in the sewers with only the soft glow of low powered flashlights held by Jana and Lucius, and it wasn’t long before the piss poor matrix connection completely gave up the ghost.  After a few access tunnels Jana was leading us through subway tunnels.  Some of these looked abandoned, some like they were supposed to be under construction.  Most of the time Risa was at my side as we walked.</p><p>Okay, as far as distance goes I typically jog farther than this.  The pace of it all made it a lot more boring, though.  Be nice if I could’ve listened to music to help pass the time.  No matrix connections meant no music services.</p><p>Eventually we got to a really wide tunnel, and just when I thought it was starting to look familiar I noticed there were several parked vehicles along one side, slightly illuminated by a little strip of light that came out from underneath a door, and my ‘link reconnected to the matrix.</p><p>“<em>…tonight in the bar, I’ll get in my car, And take off for the promised land…</em>” a deep sounding man’s voice sadly droned on.</p><p>“Five By Five.” I said aloud.  “You could’ve just said we needed to go here.”</p><p>“But could you have found the place?” Jana asked me.</p><p>Okay, probably not.  At the moment I couldn’t even recall the parking lots we used to get down and up again the last time we were here.</p><p>But this time we went in.  Guess I’ll have to put up with the music.  Yuck.</p><p>Jana stopped at a box, pulled out a pistol of some kind and a knife, and dropped both of them in it.  “Drop your weapons here, house rules.” she said.</p><p>I stepped around to take a look.  There was a mess of guns and a few knives and other things in the box, no names, no tags, no nothing.  Nailed to the wall above it was a sign that said, “Drop It Or Be Dropped.” and had an arrow pointing down to that box.  Just so it’d be easier to figure out my gun I undid the whole belt and dropped it in.  Not like it was holding up my tights.  Roland was the only other person in our group to drop a gun.  I also took off my helmet and put it beside the box of guns.</p><p>“Scotch, double.” Jana said as she walked up to the bar.</p><p>There was a single man behind that bar, short cut brown hair with tinges of red and a bit taller than me.  He wore a gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a white apron.</p><p>“So… what do we do now?” I asked.</p><p>“Mingle.” Lucius told me, walking over to the bar.</p><p>Okay, I guess.</p><p>I looked around at the others in the bar, feeling Risa press up tight to my left side.  We were still pretty much at the door.  Straight ahead of me were three tables, one of which had a pair of large redheaded men sitting opposite of each other, and I saw Roland join them after getting himself a drink.  The closest table had a very slender looking elf sitting at it, his black dyed hair in dire need of a touchup with his blond roots showing.  He also made me feel as twitchy as his left hand was tweaking.  Good thing his drink was in the right hand or he’d have spilled all of it.</p><p>So instead I worked my way past the tables to the bar.  Lucius sat on a stool, chatting with someone at his left.  Damned elf made it look so easy.</p><p>“What’ll you have?” the bartender asked me.</p><p>“Uh… 40 Caliber.” I stammered.</p><p>The bartender turned around to a cooler and pulled out a can.  He placed it on the bar, but didn’t let go of it right away.</p><p>“Oh, right.” I said, mentally accessing my ‘link…</p><p>“You’re new here.  Certified cred only.” the bartender told me.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Got a credstick?”</p><p>“Oh, yeah.  Hang on.”</p><p>Okay, what kind of place doesn’t deal with money transfers like normal people?  I rummaged around in my pocket to try and find if I’d packed any of my credsticks.</p><p>“Hey Matty!” a woman called out, her voice higher pitched than my own.  There was a tink of plastic hitting the bar, and I stared at the silver colored credstick.  “For the cutie’s drink.”</p><p>The bartender, Matty, accepted the credstick and slotted it.  After a bit he pulled it out and put it on my beer and shoved it to me.  I took them both and walked over to the table to return the credstick.</p><p>“Thanks hon.” the woman said as she collected her credstick.  “I’m Tanya.  So, what brings you here?”</p><p>Well, Lucius said mingle…</p><p>I sat down in the chair opposite the woman.  She was about my height, but much larger, with green eyes and wavy blond hair that hung past and over her shoulders.  She had herself a blue can with a logo of a dragon’s head in profile, labeled Dunkelzahn’s Familiar.</p><p>“Crystal.” I replied, almost forgetting the name of my ID.  “And we’re looking for someone.” I told Tanya as Risa sat down, pulling the chair closer to my side.  “Name’s Terry.”</p><p>“Terry’s gone missing?” Tanya asked, looking quite distraught.  “Any idea where he was last?”</p><p>I shook my head as I popped the top to my drink.</p><p>“That makes another, now.” Tanya said as I took a drink, looking rather glum.</p><p>“Another?” I nearly choked.</p><p>“Piotr’s another… trucker.” Tanya told me.  I think she meant that this Piotr’s a smuggler, a coyote, like Terry.  “Last time I saw him was when I dropped him off at Doc Tico’s, over in the PCC side.  “But Terry…  And poor Carole.  What’s she gonna do?”</p><p>I shook my head.  Beyond finding Terry I really hadn’t a clue.  I took another drink.</p><p>Tanya leaned in close, gesturing for me and Risa to do the same.  In a hushed tone she told us, “She doesn’t even know what he really does, that he runs chips for the mafia.  Now you didn’t hear this one from me, but I think he’s been running for the Vory too.”</p><p>There was a loud bang at the door, and when we looked up I saw that the door had been practically blown off its hinges.  It hung on, barely, by the top hinge.  Three men walked in, all of them huge, human, with dark hair and rumpled suits.  Each one of them had a shotgun in both hands.</p><p>“I am Ivan Romanov,” the middle man said, speaking with a Russian accent, “and this bar is closed.”</p><p>The twitchy elf was quick to bolt out the door, knocking his chair down as he fled, leaving his half finished drink behind.  The Russians let him go without so much as a glance.</p><p>When I stood I saw another man on the floor.  It was Terry.  When I looked to Lucius I could tell he saw Terry.  Lucius didn’t look at me, but he glanced at Brick.  The two made eye contact, and I think I saw Lucius nod.</p><p>When Brick wants to move he moves.  He lunged at one of the Russians, a big meaty fist connecting with the man’s jaw hard.  As his buddy brought his shotgun up to shoot Brick was already moving back, the blast peppering the wall with pellets.</p><p>Lucius and Roland tried to join in, both of them ganging up on the Russian that shot at Brick.  He blocked Lucius’s fist with his shotgun, and brought the butt of the weapon down on Roland’s head (which didn’t do a whole lot of good).</p><p>Jana must’ve had a knife on her, because it was suddenly in hand.  She instead lunged at the guy that called himself Ivan.  The big Russian twisted out of the way but still got a glancing slash in his side for the effort.  He in turn tried to club Jana across the face with his shotgun, but she ducked the wild swing.</p><p>The one Brick had slugged tried brining his own shotgun up, but when he shot it he only ended up making Matty duck.  A bunch of liquor bottles along the back wall shattered.  Brick returned the favor by lunging back in for a second meeting of fist to face, and the Russian dropped.</p><p>That’s about when I noticed Terry scrambling across the floor.  Tanya had knocked her chair over when she bolted to get out of their way.  My own chair fell over when I stood, leaping up and over the table to go after Terry.  I landed not too far behind him, hearing the roar of a shotgun just about in my ear.</p><p>The Russian that Lucius and Roland had tried to take on had completely ignored them and tried to shoot me!</p><p>Sleepers, don’t try this at home.  Actually, I don’t think I should’ve tried it either.</p><p>I launched myself up and at the Russian, flying up between Lucius and Roland (maybe a bit over Roland, really), lashing out with a booted foot at the Russian’s face.  I think I surprised the shit out of him since I really hit him hard.  I ended up landing on top of him as he collapsed.  Roland came down on him beside me, his fist colliding with the Russian’s face to make his head bounce off the floor.</p><p>There was another gunshot, and Brick roared.  When I looked up I saw Lucius and Jana had ganged up on Ivan, who was now sitting against the wall holding his side as he bled from what I figured was another knife wound.</p><p>I heard the distinctive click-clack of a shotgun being pumped.  Lucius had picked up one of the Russian’s shotguns and now had it leveled on Ivan.  “Behave and you’ll live.” he sternly said to Ivan.  When the Russian nodded, Lucius simply said, “Risa.”</p><p>“Up.” grunted Brick, doing more of the lifting for Terry than Terry himself.</p><p>Risa quietly walked over to Ivan.  I stepped off the other Russian that I had flying kicked in the face.</p><p>“Not too much.” Lucius advised Risa.  “At least enough so he doesn’t bleed out.”</p><p>Risa only nodded as she knelt down beside Ivan.  Lucius took a step to make sure she wasn’t in his way.  She placed one hand on Ivan’s stomach and held it there for about ten seconds before pulling it away.  She was very eager to get out of the way and hide behind me.</p><p>“Now I think the line’s something like, ‘Good things come to he who waits.’” Lucius said.  “I think it’s time you guys left.  Though maybe…  Hey, Matty, what’s the penalty for not dropping their guns at the door?”</p><p>“They each buy the house a round.” Matty replied.</p><p>“Gonna be hard when two of them are unconscious.” I said.</p><p>“Bah.” scoffed Roland, “Let me see their ‘links.”</p><p>I knelt back down beside the Russian I had kicked and rummaged through his pockets.  I found a nice looking Avalon made by Transys and passed it to Roland.</p><p>The dwarf whistled as he took it, adding it to two similar ‘links I figured came from the other Russians.  “These’re nice.  Really nice.” he said.</p><p>“Yeah, and they look new, too.” I added.</p><p>“How nice are we talking here?” asked Lucius, not taking his eyes off of Ivan.</p><p>“In these guys’ hands?  Be like dressing a sow in a silk kimono.” Roland answered.</p><p>I blurted out a short fit of laughter, imagining a pig dolled up like a geisha.</p><p>“Right.  Best then you guys get going.” Lucius said.</p><p>Matty added, “Jimmy, Shawn, show them out.”</p><p>The two big redheads, the shorter of whom was about as tall as me, walked over to us.  I got out of their way as the smaller guy picked up one of the unconscious Russians.  Ivan got a boot to his ass out the door from Brick, and the other two got thrown out like sacks of soybeans.</p><p>Roland claimed the table recently vacated by the twitchy elf, plugging his own ‘link into one of the others.  I reclaimed my own seat, and my drink which had survived the brief fight.  Risa was once again at my side.</p><p>“That was crazy!” exclaimed Tanya as she came back over to sit with me, righting her chair before sitting down.  “Nothing like this’s ever happened here before.  Usually everyone leaves Matty alone.  But you… and that kick!  Wow!”</p><p>“Yeah.  Helps when I got magic boosting my jumps.” I sourly said before taking a drink.  I spotted Lucius and Wyatt take a pair of stools further down the bar, putting Wyatt about as far from the door as possible.</p><p>“Like one of those phys adepts?”</p><p>“Yeah.” I told her, agreeing, and taking another drink.</p><p>“So, why’re you all looking for Terry in the first place?”</p><p>Thankfully I didn’t have to answer her.  Roland came up to our table and placed a bottle on it right in front of me.  “Thought you’d like this.” Roland said.  “Compliments of our Russian party poopers.”</p><p>I turned the bottle around to look at the label on the front.  It was a basic white label with a drawing of a soaring thunderbird, the aircraft not the bird.  Below, in thick red letters, was written “T-Bird Fuel.”</p><p>“Isn’t it a bit much?” I asked.</p><p>“They were very generous.” Roland told us, giving me a wink.  “But it’s also time we got going.”</p><p>I collected my gun and helmet and waved to Tanya as we left.  Jana led the way and Wyatt mixed in with us.  I tried to be careful of the half liter bottle of scotch hanging in my jacket pocket as we walked.  No one said anything as we retraced our steps through the underground.  It was a long, painfully quiet walk.  Lucius broke the silence when Jana was just about to start climbing the ladder to get out.</p><p>“So, are you going to tell us what those Russians wanted with you?”</p><p>Terry looked down at the floor.</p><p>We stood there for about a minute.  Jana, who had been about to climb up the ladder simply turned her back to it to lean against the wall.  When it looked like no one was going to talk or do anything I decided to break the silence.</p><p>“Maybe they heard he’s runnin’ for the mob and Vory at the same time.” I answered for Terry.</p><p>Okay, I’m not quite sure how to describe the reaction I got from Terry.  Maybe I scared the shit out of him with the very idea, or maybe he figured I guessed right, or was trying to figure out how the fuck I knew it in the first place.  I think part of him might’ve also wanted to rip out my tongue or do some other kind of violent thing to me.</p><p>“How do you know that?” Terry asked, speaking rather softly.</p><p>Oh crap.  Do I rat out Tanya and tell him?  Jana was there, too, and she might also know Tanya…</p><p>“I don’t think it matters how she figured it out.” Lucius told us, “What matters is that she’s apparently right, that you’ve been smuggling for two syndicates now and neither like it all that much.”</p><p>“So now where’s that put us?” asked Roland.  “I mean, Don Casquilho’s payin’ us to bring Terry in.”</p><p>“Whoa, no way!” Jana declared.  “If the Don knows…”</p><p>Lucius held up a hand at Jana.  “I think we can safely assume that the Don already knows.”</p><p>“But he just said he wants to talk with Terry.” I said.</p><p>“And why’d he send someone like the bunch of us to go find him?” Lucius asked, turning to look straight at me.  “If all he wanted was to talk, and nothing else was wrong, he could’ve sent Miguel or anyone else from the family to go get Terry.”</p><p>Okay, why?  Why us?  Was it even possible that Don Casquilho didn’t have the manpower to go find?</p><p>“Best answer,” Lucius continued, “is that Terry would likely run from anyone from the family.”</p><p>“Yeah.  I would have.” Terry agreed, hanging his head.</p><p>“So, we’ve figured that you’re smuggling for two, and we’ll worry about the why of it later.” Lucius said.</p><p>“What I’d like to know is what happened.” Roland said.</p><p>“I… was flying in, just got over the CAS-UCAS border.” Terry told us, “A border patrol noticed me, and I dropped my cargo.  I had to wait for the heat to die down before going back to try and get it.”</p><p>“You’re a little late.” Jana told us.  “Word is the Aurora Angels got your salvage.”</p><p>“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” I asked.</p><p>Jana shrugged.  “No one asked.”</p><p>Okay, I think she had a point.</p><p>“Hey, Lucius, you’re getting a look.” Roland said.</p><p>I looked at Lucius, and he had some kind of thoughtful expression.  I think.  He wasn’t exactly looking at anyone or anything in particular.</p><p>“Get the goods?” asked Brick.</p><p>“That’s what I’m thinking.” Lucius said.</p><p>“We doing a plan B?” Roland asked.</p><p>“Plan B?” I asked.</p><p>“Yeah, plan B.” Lucius told us.  “Now we see about finding ourselves some Angels.”</p><hr/><p>I’m not quite sure what the hell they meant by this “Plan B” bullshit, but it involved us going into the Warrens.</p><p>There’s a reason why people don’t go into the Warrens.  Cops don’t even go into the Warrens.</p><p>Yes, yes, I know I’ve been in there before.  Doesn’t mean I liked it.  And this time, riding on my motorcycle I liked it even less.</p><p>Okay, I really wished I had real bullets for my gun.  That’s how much I didn’t like being in the Warrens right now.</p><p>And my impression of how bad this place was?  It was a slum, run down, decrepit, and probably should’ve been bulldozed long ago.  The streets were strewn with rubble and trash and potholes, there were no working streetlights, and every so often there was an abandoned car or truck that had everything of value stripped from it.  Aside from the headlight on my Rapier the only other source of light was the full moon climbing into the sky in the southeast.  Paper pushing bureaucrats likely managed to keep that from happening, for some dumbass reason.</p><p>And the only angels I honestly expected that would set foot in a place like this was the gang Jana had mentioned: the Aurora Angels.</p><p>I would’ve felt better if I could’ve ridden in the van.  Problem was that Terry had come along with, so somehow they made arrangements.  I couldn’t quite imagine Risa sharing a seat with the smuggler.</p><p>Okay, fuck the van.  Give me a damned tank to ride in.  I don’t think even some armored van like that Citymaster Lone Star uses would do well here, considering the umpteenth pothole I had to swerve around.</p><p>I barely had any warning that they were on us.  Roland had made a turn and I was right behind the van, and seconds later two motorcycles went zipping past us at crazy high speed.  And I thought my Rapier sounded bad on a cold morning…</p><p>But I think I noticed a pair of wings flanking a double-A on the back of one of those bikers.</p><p>I pulled up beside the van as Roland found a place to park.  Really was pretty easy.  Just… wherever in the street.</p><p>There were a bunch more where those two came from, and when we had stopped I had a better time hearing the sputtering engines as they all pulled up to us.  The others all got out of the van as one of them stopped about two or three meters from me and yelled, “Oy, this is Angel turf.  You lookin’ for a beatdown?”  Already my hand was going to my, hopefully useful, gun.</p><p>“Easy there, Little Lady.” Lucius said as he came around from behind the van.  “No need to start putting bullets in eye sockets just yet.  We can talk civilly here.”</p><p>Um, okay?  I thought he knew I can’t quite shoot for shit.</p><p>“Sure we can.” said another ganger as he rolled his motorcycle up.  He was scrawny, about my height, and had a mop of unruly looking auburn curls.  Thanks to my visor I could see him well enough in the bad light to tell he needed to get a lot more sun.  Or maybe he should stay in the shade as he might catch fire, he was that pale.</p><p>“Word is you’ve scavenged up some chips.” Lucius said.  “But there’s a problem.”</p><p>“Yeah?  What kind?”</p><p>Brick simply grunted, lifting up his hands to pound one fist into the other palm.</p><p>“Maybe you can’t count, but we got ya beat two-to-one.” the ganger replied.</p><p>“Risa?”</p><p>This time it wasn’t quite so dramatic.  I felt it first, a sudden source of heat in the middle of nowhere.  I could see the air shimmer as raw fire appeared, quickly growing and taking shape into something vaguely humanoid and about as tall as Brick.</p><p>Yeah, everyone took note of that fire spirit when it appeared.  One of the gangers fell over on his bike while several others tried to scoot away from the otherwise statue of fire.</p><p>“Well, really the problem is that we know the guy that those chips belong to.” Lucius calmly said.  “We’re hired to recover them.  Now we could do this like the Russians…”  He paused to let that hang there.  “Really, we just don’t like making a mess if we don’t have to.  You scan?”</p><p>“Yeah, I got the download.” the auburn haired Angel said.  He actually seemed a bit happy.  Was he already on one of those chips or something?  Brick could probably bench press any of the motorcycles they were riding, and unless they were also a bunch of magicians Risa’s spirit could incinerate them easily.  “But the goods’re ours now, though we could maybe sell them…”</p><p>Brick growled, and I saw him clench his fists.  Suddenly I remembered that sedan that he had punched…</p><p>Lucius raised a hand, and Brick took it as a signal to take it easy.  “Honestly that’s not going to sit well with our employer.  Would you really want to buy back what’s already yours?”</p><p>“But we can’t just give ‘em to you, either.”  He seemed to think for a bit before saying, “Maybe we can cut a deal, of sorts.  Old school rumble, battle of champs.”</p><p>Roland harrumphed.  “Brick’ll take any of you here too easily.” he said.</p><p>“Oh, we’re not talkin’ fists here, shorty.” the Angel said, drawing a growl from Roland this time.  “Naw, cyber fight, all in the ‘trix.  ‘Course, if you think he’s got the skills…”</p><p>“If that’s it then I’m your dwarf.” Roland declared, lifting his head up to stare down the Angel’s spokesperson.</p><p>“Tenebrous, you’re up!”</p><p>Tenebrous was a bit shorter than me, with a more olive complexion, dark hair, and dark eyes.  I had to take a second look to realize that Tenebrous was also a girl.  Her hair was cut short enough and her features just about immature enough that she could easily be mistaken for a boy.  Like the others she wore jeans and a black leather jacket.</p><p>“So, here’s the rules.” the lead Angel said, “I’ll set up the node for the arena, the environment and the rules.  The champs log in as guests and duke it out in a cyberfight.  Whoever’s dumpshocked looses.”</p><p>Roland grunted.  “That’s it?”</p><p>“Yeah, that’s it.”</p><p>“And how can we tell who the winter is?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Oh, it’ll be public for everyone else to watch.  Just the champs go in by VR.”</p><p>“Fine, let’s get on with this.” grumbled Roland.</p><p>Tenebrous smirked as she sat down on the street.  Roland faced her, about two meters away and sat down as well.  It kinda looked like both of them were meditating.  Certainly didn’t look like much.</p><p>Behind Roland and a bit to his left the fire spirit stood, crackling a little like a campfire but otherwise it was still like a statue as it cast a ruddy orange glow over everyone.</p><p>The Angel that had done all the talking made it easy for everyone to find the arena.  Once I was logged in an ARO appeared to give me a full, in-depth view of the fighting pit he had arranged, along with controls so I could move my viewpoint to pretty much anywhere I wanted.  The arena was enclosed, with a sandy floor, thick looking stone walls, and a high looming ceiling.  There were archways spaced around the whole place with iron gates to block the passages.  Torches were set high, setting the place with an amber glow.</p><p>When Roland logged in he appeared pretty much the same way I’d last seen him online and how he logged off.  There was a shimmer of digital sparkles, tinted gold in the virtual torchlight, and his troll sized robot with him in its chest appeared.  This time, though, he had a massive sword in his right hand and a huge honking cannon mounted on the left forearm.  Looked like he had his attack programs loaded up already.</p><p>When Tenebrous logged on she appeared in a completely different fashion.  Her icon came crashing down like a meteor, shaped like an arrowhead of some kind of black material and probably as long as a human would be tall (in VR size doesn’t quite matter as much).  It was settled for a second before breaking apart.  Broken black chunks made up some kind of haphazard armor around a near ghostly glowing humanoid shape of purple energy.  One pentagonal chunk was situated at the center of its chest with one point going straight down, and matching chains ran from it to the largest of those armored chunks, almost as if they could’ve been some kind of binding or restraints.  It wore a helmet, a diamond shaped piece of… whatever, with two glowing wedges of purple for the eyes.</p><p>They wasted no time going at it.  Tenebrous zipped off to one side and left a purple fire trail in her wake, lashing out with one… limb and unleashing a bolt of amethyst lightning at Roland.  I could hear the crackling, zapping discharge, and while Roland was on the move too with heavy footsteps he brought an arm up to take the blow.  He quickly returned with a shot of the arm mounted cannon, and it sounded very much like a cannon as a scarlet bolt flew back at Tenebrous.  She twisted at the last moment but still took a glancing hit off a shoulder… bit of armor.  Around me the Angel’s cheered as her attack struck home.</p><p>Tenebrous tried flying up higher, bringing both hands up to gather power before throwing down another bolt of amethyst lightning.  This time Roland brought his sword up, drawing in the attack light a lightning rod.  Purple sparks flashed down the length of the blade and across the silver armor of his robotic icon, bypassing… him, and flowing down into the arena floor.  He swung his sword back, bringing his cannon up again as he kept moving, and with another whip-crack he shot Tenebrous, scoring a direct against her icon and sent her flying into the back wall.  Cracks spider webbed in all directions away from her, and she actually left a small crater where she hit.</p><p>Not quite out of the fight just yet (getting the shit pounded out of you like this doesn’t mean that much in VR a lot of the time), Tenebrous shoved off from the arena wall and came flying at Roland’s icon like another bolt of lightning.  Roland actually met her energetic fists with a robotic fist of his own, and the node rules created that shockwave effect, like when two overpowered super characters would collide.</p><p>But before Tenebrous could react, Roland brought his sword up for a thrust, running half of the silver blade through the amethyst cloud of her icon’s body.  Impaled, she was thrown forcefully to the arena floor.  Purple lights turned to vapor and quickly faded, then the black iron of the armor plates simply crumpled to rust before disappearing.</p><p>Holy shit, that was like… five seconds and it was over.</p><p>“Base?” another of the Angels softly asked.</p><p>Tenebrous, who had been sitting rather serenely looking, slumped over.  Two other Angels were there to hoist her to her feet, but she was looking like a rag doll as they held her.  I think she was unconscious.</p><p>Roland, on the other hand, simply grunted as he regained his feet.  When I checked the ARO his icon was gone.  I went ahead and closed it with a mental click.</p><p>The spokesman Angel looked rather crestfallen.  I kinda felt sorry for the guy.</p><p>Almost.  I mean, we didn’t really want those chips.  We needed them.  It was them or we turned Terry over to the Don, and Lucius believed that was a really bad idea.</p><p>“Base?” that Angel asked again, sounding a lot more urgent.</p><p>Base’s shoulders slumped and his head dropped.  “Give them the chips.” he said.</p><p>Lucius walked by Base, pausing to put a hand on the ganger’s shoulder.  “Your rep’s solid with us.” he said.</p><hr/><p>Once we had the moving box full of chips in Roland’s van we headed about as straight north as we could.  I sure as hell was glad when we’d crossed Alameda Parkway, the road that marked that imaginary barrier for the Warrens, the homes actually being lit and the streets not full of potholes.  I was really tired of driving around them.</p><p>Anyway, the idea was that we’d get Terry to his wife and he’d arrange for the two of them to disappear.  A few months ago I would’ve wondered how that was even possible.  All the crime drama trids all talked about tracking people down, how it was so easy to find the fake SINs and all.  But I guess considering how easy it seemed for me to get my Crystal and Rhonda identities and I hadn’t gotten arrested yet, I guess it was possible.</p><p>A little while later Roland drove his van off into a residential neighborhood that still looked like it had seen better times.  If I’d heard right back on campus, the governor of the UCAS sector was a real racist asshole.  Iain Lesker and my parents might just get along, if the governor’s not too much of a pussy or teddy bear.</p><p>We drove right on through that neighborhood, though, and on the next major street Roland turned back south towards the Warrens.  I was about to try racing up to his van to pound on his door when he soon pulled over into an empty lot.  Rather than trying to knock some sense into Roland about driving back into the Warrens I pulled up on the other side of the van.  The door opened and Lucius waved me over.  I killed my Rapier and got off to walk over to the van.</p><p>“We’ve got trouble.” Lucius told me.</p><p>“Yeah, we’re backtracking.” I said.</p><p>“Not that.” Lucius countered, his expression grim.  “We didn’t stop at Terry’s place because Mrs. Wyatt has company.  Probably the bad kind.”</p><p>“How bad could it be?”</p><p>“Did you pay attention to the neighborhood we just drove through?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“Notice the black Mercedes R400 sitting in someone’s driveway?”</p><p>“The what?” I asked.</p><p>“Big luxury car in the middle of a poor neighborhood.” Lucius clarified.</p><p>“Uh, okay.  Guess that’s odd.” I admitted.</p><p>“Very.  So right now Risa and Roland are both doing a little recon to figure things out.” Lucius told me, “But odds are we might have a fight on our hands.  I want to make sure you’re going to be up for this.  Terry’s got a way to get him and his wife out of town.”</p><p>“Because people are trying to kill him now?” I asked.  It was about the only reason I could think of that you’d want to get out of town like this.</p><p>“Yeah, you got it.”</p><p>“So… we’re going to rescue his wife?”</p><p>“At least try it.  But we’ve got to wait for Risa and Roland to get done with scouting out the place.”</p><p>I turned around and leaned against the open side door of Roland’s van.  I guess all I really had to do now was wait.  With the lowlight feature in my helmet I could see the area in nice, full color detail like it was daytime.  Decrepit and depressing.</p><p>Since there was some matrix coverage here I decided to look up that Mercedes Lucius had mentioned.  I felt my stomach drop when I saw the price tags for the car.  Cheapest one I saw was for ninety-five thousand nuyen!</p><p>I felt a tap on my shoulder.  When I turned to look I saw Lucius motioning to me.  I turned to stand more in the open doorway, but I didn’t climb in since there really wasn’t much room.  Risa was fixing her mask back on and Brick had pulled out his glasses.  In about the middle of the four seats in the van was a floating three dimensional ARO, and Wyatt stood towards the back of the van.  The ARO itself looked like a home, the walls transparent so you could see the insides.</p><p>“So here’s Terry’s place.” Roland said, “We’ve got a guy out front, another in the living room, and two more in the back.  All nicely dressed in suits.”</p><p>“And Mrs. Wyatt?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Moving about the place.” Roland answered.</p><p>“She’s scared.” Risa added.</p><p>I figured that since Risa was there, out of body most likely, she would’ve gotten a good read on the auras of the people there.</p><p>“Anything more you could tell us about them?  Particularly the other four?” Lucius asked.</p><p>Risa stuck her hand into the ARO, touching the figure in the living room.  “He is angry.”  She indicated the figure outside.  “He is bored.”  Then to the last two in the back room.  “They are also bored.”</p><p>“Spirits?  Awakened?” Lucius asked.</p><p>Risa shook her head.</p><p>“Well, that gives us an advantage.” Lucius said.</p><p>“A major advantage.” amended Roland.  “Means no spirits or other mojo to deal with.”</p><p>And though he didn’t say it, whatever spells Risa could pull off couldn’t be countered.  And I don’t think Brick was so easily dealt with either.</p><p>“I doubt I could sweet talk them into handing Carol over.” Lucius said.</p><p>“You’re not giving up, are you?” Terry asked.</p><p>Roland grunted.</p><p>“Hardly.” Lucius told him.  “But we do need a plan or something in dealing with these Vory.”</p><p>“Are we sure they’re Vory?” I asked.</p><p>“Yeah, they are.” Roland grunted.  “Heard some talk while I was riding in a Fly-Spy.  Don’t know what they said but I could tell it was Russian.”</p><p>Well, I guess that was good enough.</p><p>“Okay.  So what’re they doing there?” I asked.</p><p>“I’d put my money on waiting for Terry.” Roland said.</p><p>“Odds are you’d win that bet, too.” Lucius replied, “It’s supposed to send a message.  ‘We know where your family is.’  The angry guy’s probably the one in charge.  Probably made something up about knowing Terry and muscled his way in to waiting for him to come home.”</p><p>“And if he doesn’t show up?” I asked.</p><p>“He gets mad enough he’ll kill Carol and they’ll leave.” Lucius answered darkly.</p><p>Gulp.</p><p>I looked at Terry, and saw he was looking a little white.  I hope he wasn’t going to get sick or something.</p><p>No one said anything for a while.  I guess they were thinking about what to do.</p><p>“We might have to give them Terry.” Lucius said, breaking the silence.</p><p>“What?” I asked.</p><p>“Lucius.” growled Roland.</p><p>Lucius held up his hands.  “Hear me out on this one.” he said.  “We’re not exactly that good at being sneaky, except for maybe two or three of us.”  His eyes fell on Risa and me.  “The guy at the front probably knows what Terry looks like.  He should be waiting for him to come home.  Might even let some ‘friends’ come in with him.”</p><p>“I’m not liking this.” Roland commented.</p><p>“Trojan Horse.” I said.  This drew Lucious’s and Roland’s eyes to me.</p><p>“Why not let them think they’re getting Terry?” I asked.  “Risa could make someone look like Terry, fool the guard, and we’re in.”</p><p>“Alright, let’s say that gets us in.” Lucius said, “What next?”</p><p>“We smash ‘em.” answered Brick.</p><p>“Survive one gunfight and he thinks he’s Neil The Ork Barbarian.” joked Roland, jabbing a thumb at Brick.  I didn’t really feel like correcting him that we’d been in more than just that one fight in Five By Five.</p><p>“Might be the best option we’ve got, though.” Lucius said.  “Risa, think you can make him look like Terry?”</p><p>Saying nothing, Risa slid out of her seat to take a few steps closer to Brick.  She touched his hand and suddenly there was a second Terry Wyatt sitting there.  Everything was a match, down to the mussed hair and rumpled clothing.</p><p>“It work?” Brick asked, in Terry’s voice.</p><p>“Looks like it did.” Lucius said.</p><p>Eyes half closed in concentration, Risa returned to her seat.</p><p>“I’m not going alone.” Brick declared.</p><p>“Hardly.” agreed Lucius.  He then looked at me.</p><p>“Shit.  Hang on.” I muttered.  I stalked back to my Rapier and lifted the seat to open up the little cargo container underneath it.  I swapped out the clip of gel rounds for another of stick n shock, and after holstering my pistol I dug out a pair of black hardliner gloves and put them on.  They didn’t completely cover my fingers but more of my fair skinned hands wouldn’t be showing up in the dark.  Last, with a thought I accessed the color controls of my clothes, and in seconds the only thing I was wearing that wasn’t black was my helmet.</p><p>“You missed a spot.” Lucius said, grinning as he touched his own head.</p><p>I flipped him off.  “It doesn’t change colors.” I told them.</p><p>“Right, so here’s what we’re gonna do…” Lucius told us.</p><hr/><p>Okay, I really should’ve paid more attention to those magical theory courses I had to take.  I had no idea that Risa didn’t need to keep watching Brick to keep up that illusion of Terry on him.</p><p>Lucius and I had snuck between a few houses and managed to creep up to the corner of Terry’s home pretty much unnoticed by anyone.  Brick, still looking like Terry, calmly walked down the sidewalk, passing under working streetlights, and somehow managed to look like everything was normal.</p><p>Meanwhile I was afraid everyone was going to hear the pounding drum in my chest.</p><p>The guard in the suit barely paid Brick any attention at all.  He seemed quite comfortable in the patio chair, lounging in the warm spring breeze.</p><p>At least, until Brick sucker punched the guy.  I don’t think it was a full force punch, not when the Russian guy hit the fence, bounced off it, and hit the porch.  Still he wasn’t moving after that.</p><p>“Go, go.” Lucius hissed.  I waited for Brick to open the front door, taking several deep breaths and trying to wish away the pounding in my chest.  Once I saw Brick disappear inside I moved, grabbing the railing with one hand and easily vaulting over it and the unconscious Russian.  Two more steps and I was inside.</p><p>Mr. Angry in the living room was quick.  He was already on his feet and pulling a gun out from inside of his jacket as I was coming in, glaring at Brick all the while.  I kicked at him, and completely missed.  But I had his attention now…</p><p>Shit.</p><p>I grabbed for my own gun, and by the time I had it out Mr. Angry had his out too, and we were aiming at each other.  I was breathing pretty hard, my heart pounding like mad, and I did my best to keep my gun aimed on him, both hands on it like I did on the practice range.</p><p>Fuck.</p><p>“Terry?” I heard a frantic sounding woman ask.</p><p>I heard some grunting, some yelling that I think was in Russian, and a thud.  There was a gunshot, immediately followed by two more thuds.</p><p>I really wanted to turn and look, to see if Brick was alright after that.  My heart was still pounding and Mr. Angry still had his bigger gun aimed at me.  If I looked away he’d shoot.  It didn’t matter that I had my helmet on, the visor down so my eyes were hidden, if I took my eyes off of Mr. Angry’s gun he’d shoot.</p><p>“Terry?” I heard the same woman’s voice ask again, a little softer, a little calmer.</p><p>“He’s quite alright, Mrs. Wyatt.” Lucius said as he quite calmly stepped through the front door.  “Unlike some of your uninvited guests.”  There was a pause before he said, “You might want to put the gun down, Little Lady.”</p><p>“Uh, he’s still holding on me.” I told Lucius, stating the obvious.  Mr. Angry was keeping his eyes on me, though he held that cannon with one hand.</p><p>“Well, I do hope our uninvited guest will realize that if he doesn’t holster it then our good friend Brick will give him the experience of flying.  How that works out depends on him.” Lucius said.</p><p>Mr. Angry spat something in Russian.  Then in English he said, “You are worse than Georgians raised in a pig’s trough.”  But he relaxed, raising that cannon of his and aiming upwards and putting his other hand up along with it.  I didn’t relax, though, not even when Brick walked around me, now looking like himself, and took that gun out of Mr. Angry’s hand.</p><p>“Well, considering the options we had available to us we could’ve done a lot worse.” Lucius said.  “Brick, how’re his associates?”</p><p>“They’ll live.” the ork flatly answered.</p><p>Mr. Angry didn’t look pleased.  “You have no idea how dangerous a business you’re walking into.” he told us.</p><p>“You should tell that to the other Russians that found Terry before us.” Lucius replied.  “The advice might have saved them a trip to the doctor.  Ah, but I’m afraid we can’t hang around and chat.  Mrs. Wyatt, if you’ll come outside with us we’ll take you to your husband.”  I felt a hand on my right shoulder.  “I think you can put that away now.” he told me.</p><p>I guess I’d been really tense, holding my gun on Mr. Angry.  My arms and legs felt a little tight as I relaxed and put my gun back in its holster.  I followed Lucius and Mrs. Wyatt out, and Brick followed me.</p><hr/><p>Risa held on tight to me as we rode back to Casquilho Imports.  She had vacated her spot in Roland’s van for Carol and now had a death grip about my stomach as I followed them.</p><p>Carol didn’t take the news of what her husband did for work all these years really well.  I think she was more pissed than shocked or anything.  Somehow Terry managed to smooth things out, at least for now.  We’d left him with a friend, someone he told us could help the two of them disappear.  Again I had thoughts about those crime drama trids, but this time thinking about a few that also did… witness protection.  I wonder, do the people Dean knows for those fake IDs do the same thing some government person does for people in witness protection?</p><p>Anyway, I parked my bike next to Roland’s van as he backed up to the back alley door to Casquilho Imports.  Our only light now was a single bulb near the back door.  Even the moon was hidden by the press of buildings around us.  Miguel was there waiting for us.  He and Lucius spoke before the big ork went inside.  A few minutes later Don Casquilho came out with his two bodyguards right behind him.</p><p>“This is highly irregular.” the Don said, slipping into his jacket.</p><p>“It’s a highly irregular situation.” Lucius returned.  “We had a few difficulties, and I’m afraid the Russians managed to get a hold of Terry before we could track him down.”</p><p>The Don looked really pissed, glaring at Lucius.  “Then pray tell, why are you here?” he asked.</p><p>“Well, we thought you’d like something that belongs to you.” Lucius answered, his chrome plated smile not tarnishing under the Don’s withering gaze.  He rapped twice on the back doors of Roland’s van, and Brick promptly opened them.  Sitting by the back end was the box of chips we recovered from the Aurora Angels.</p><p>Don Casquilho looked at the box, then back to Lucius.</p><p>“I know we couldn’t recover Terry for you, but we did manage to recover the cargo he lost.” Lucius told him.  “At least it’s not a total loss.”</p><p>“And Terry?” the Don asked.</p><p>Lucius sighed, putting on a sad face.  “I’m afraid he won’t be troubling anyone now.”</p><p>Fuck, if I didn’t know better I’d say Lucius had just written of Terry as dead.</p><p>“Very well.” the Don said, sounding a lot less upset than I expected.  My stomach started doing flip flops as he casually waved a hand.  One of the bodyguards stepped up, picked up the box of chips with a grunt and carefully walked back inside.</p><p>Don Casquilho reached into a pants pocket and pulled out five credsticks.  Lucius took the whole bunch.  “Good night.” he rather curtly said and walked back inside.  Miguel and the other body guard followed him.</p><p>“Well, I guess this is where we part ways, again.” Lucius said, holding out one of the credsticks.  I took it and slipped it into an inside jacket pocket.  Beneath me the Rapier shifted as Risa climbed off.</p><p>“This what you expected?” I asked.</p><p>“Just about.” Lucius told me.  “Was kinda afraid that the Don wouldn’t pay us at all.  Glad he figured it’d be cheaper to shell out the rest of our pay for the job than it’d be to buy back the chips.”</p><p>“He was so… cold about it.” I said, looking at the back door, lit by the glare of that single light bulb.</p><p>“You gotta understand, he’s a criminal.  Not quite like the rest of us, but a criminal just the same.” Lucius said, “He plays the caring grandfather so well it’s probably a second skin now.  Anyway, time we went home.”</p><p>I followed Roland as far as the end of the ally.  He turned one way and I went the other.  I tried not to think about what might’ve happened if we’d actually brought Terry in now.</p><p>I already had nightmares enough when I thought about Catherine…</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Calvin's Pizza Kitchen was inspired by a real chain of restaurants called MOD Pizza, and the song plagiarized is Superbeast by Rob Zombie.  The bit of music quoted at Five By Five, in keeping with the theme of the place, is from Drinking And Dreaming by Waylon Jennings.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. An Ounce Of Prevention</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Practicing medicine can be divided into two groups:  those who do it for the money or fame, and those who do it to help their fellow [meta]human.  When it comes to what is necessary to continue that practice, where is the line?  Just how far is too far to get the money and medicine, for either side?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Based on the mission written by Cliff Hensley:</p><p>Being in someone else’s place for the first time can sometimes feel like an invasion.  Unfamiliar surroundings, the unknown quirks of what one probably shouldn’t do, and all that.</p><p>In this case it was the apartment of Allison’s boyfriend, Chris.  He was a fair skinned ork with blue eyes and auburn hair.  It looked like he also worked out, and while Allison said they met at the gym I couldn’t recall having seen him there before.</p><p>And Chris was probably a girl’s dream.  Through Allison he’d invited me, Hanako, Russell, and Kody over for a Saturday afternoon of relaxation, and even though we were told Chris was studying to become a doctor he’d also spent time learning how to play a guitar (and he was good at it).</p><p>His apartment was a little small, but still a lot larger than my dorm room.  The living room doubled for dining and along one wall as the kitchen as well.  Towards the back was his bedroom and a relatively meager bathroom.  I was sitting in the one chair in the living room and Hanako had just about curled up at my feet, leaning against the chair while we listened to Chris play.  The other guys were at the ends of a couch, the only other piece of furniture in the room.  Chris was towards the front, playing an old song by Concrete Dreams while Allison watched from what passed for a kitchen in his place (a countertop with a few soy processing units).</p><p>In my vision an ARO appeared, an incoming call.  My ‘link had been set to silent so no one else would really know if someone called me.  The commcode didn’t look familiar, but I was starting to get used to this.  I made sure the call settings were all set for privacy before hitting the answer.</p><p>The ARO transformed to whatever would’ve shown on the screen if I’d used my ‘link directly, showing me a man’s face.  He had long reddish-brown hair that could’ve been a lion’s mane if his hairline wasn’t already trying to retreat from his face, the color a contrast to his brilliant green eyes.  He had about the biggest grin I’d ever seen.  What he’d see on the other end was my VR icon, less the helmet but otherwise a close representation of what I looked like.  With some fancier space armor and a bit of a bigger bust.</p><p>“Yah hi!” he said, his voice immediately making me think he was from Texas, “Mah name’s Izzy, and I was told you might like a bit of work.”</p><p>“<em>So how’d you get my number, Izzy?</em>” I otherwise silently asked, tipping my virtual head up so I could give him a suspicious look.</p><p>“Guy by the name of Felix,” Izzy told me, “We’d gotten to talkin’ ‘bout some retrieval work, and said you’d probably be interested in this.  If yah like something a little less complicated than I understand you’re used to, go to the Jantico Medical Clinic on Ward and 58th, in the PCC.  Your appointment with ‘Dr. Johnson’ is at six, but I’d suggest not eating dinner before you get there.”</p><p>“<em>Jantico at six.  Okay.</em>” I told Izzy, and hung up the call.</p><p>“Is my playing that bad?” I heard Chris ask.  I noticed he was looking straight at me.</p><p>“What?” I asked.</p><p>“You were spaced out.” Allison said, “Something up?”</p><p>“Huh?  Oh, no, nothing.  Nothing really.” I said.</p><p>“Is it work?” Hanako asked.  She’d half turned around to look up at me.</p><p>Okay, when she put it like that there’s no real point to deny it.  “Yeah, work.”</p><p>“What kind of work?” asked a dubious sounding Chris.</p><p>“Maybe it’s for PuebSec!” Kody excitedly said, “There’s a new article going about on how they can’t get any leads on those RMD truck robberies two weeks ago.”</p><p>“She hasn’t said.” Allison answered Chris.  “Just… odd jobs.”</p><p>“Odd jobs, eh?” Chris replied.  “Like what?”</p><p>“Deliveries, investigations, that sort of stuff.” I answered.  Vague, I know, but I most certainly didn’t want to get into details.</p><p>“Uh huh.  And this one?” Chris pressed.</p><p>Before I could answer Allison spoke up.  “She’s not gonna know that until she speaks with the client.”</p><p>“Sure.” Chris said.</p><p>Hanako scooted aside when she felt I was starting to stand up.  I grabbed my jacket from the back of the chair, saying, “I should get going.” as I headed for the door.</p><p>“Hey!  Hold up!” I heard Allison call out at me as I left Chris’s apartment.  I waited while the ork woman closed the door behind her.</p><p>“What’s his problem?” I asked, turning to try and stare down Allison.  Well, okay, stare <em>up</em> since she was nearly thirty centimeters taller than me.  “Grilling me like some fucking cop!”</p><p>Allison’s expression softened.  “His world view’s a… it’s more black and white.” she told me.  “It’s like, if there’s any chance it’s illegal then it is illegal.”</p><p>“So, what, he’s thinking I’m sneaking off somewhere to be a joygirl?!  Fuck that shit!  I’d sooner go be some extra on <em>Toxic Hunter</em> than turn those kinds of tricks!”</p><p>“He also doesn’t like this kind of… obscurity.” Allison added, looking a bit unphased by my outburst.  “He’s the kind of guy that goes for full disclosure.”</p><p>“Full disclosure, eh?” I asked, bobbing my head as I looked sideways back at the door.  “He’s studying medicine, right?”</p><p>“On a grant to become a doctor, yes.” Allison confirmed.</p><p>I turned my eyes back on the taller ork.  “Ask him what he’s gonna do about that doctor-patient confidentiality bit doctors are so keen on using when someone comes nosing about their patients.” I growled.  I didn’t wait for a response, turning and storming off to leave Allison behind.</p><p>After hitting up my dorm room to change into my work clothes and gear up I rode up towards Cheesman Park.  A block or two east of the park was a multi-level parking garage.  I pulled in, not too worried about tracking since it was free parking, and pulled my purple Rapier into a back corner.  There I swapped the identity chip in my ‘link, and after resetting my PAN I changed the bulk of my clothing to a dark blue color with some sky blue racing stripes and such.  This time my helmet changed along with the rest of my clothes, having gotten it done only yesterday.  Even the visor would change colors now, though I left it black this time.</p><p>Now I wish I realized just how much time I had before I buzzed out on my friends.  I loaded up a search ARO and found a Soybucks just west of Sloan Lake that was somewhat on the way to the clinic.  I took my time getting there, and was plenty hungry for a late lunch by the time I was getting off my motorcycle.</p><p>So I sat at a little table near the window, half looking out at Sloan Lake, half looking at news AROs, and only paying half attention to either one while I nursed a soykaf and a cinnamon flavored roll that was probably ninety-nine percent soy powder.</p><p>Out of Neo-Tokyo, the whole country was abuzz about the confirmed pregnancy of Empress Hitomi.</p><p>On the other side of the planet, people were arguing about what to do about France’s attack on some corp facilities in an irradiated and walled off area over there.</p><p>A little closer to home, sort of, the Vancouver Cubs were leading against the Texas Lone Stars 3:1 in the fourth inning.  Too bad the Seattle game against the Havana Lions wasn’t going to start until later tonight.</p><p>Back home in Seattle, Lone Star ended up blowing up a truck hauling ten tons of some drug called tempo last night.  Stuff looked like sugar to me.</p><p>I also found that article Kody was talking about, the investigation in the RMD shipments.  Kinda felt sick to my stomach about it, knowing I had a hand in hijacking those trucks and all.  You’d think I’d feel thrilled that we all got away with it.  Especially that guy who’s ‘link I disassembled and tossed into the weeds.</p><p>Over in Manhattan, an officer in NYPD Inc. was being indicted for manslaughter after shooting an ork with a stick-n-shock round that ended up killing the ork.</p><p>Anyway, I went back to the baseball game and opened up an ARO to the network broadcasting it to watch the action for a while, and aside from some dirty looks I got from some of the staff at that Soybucks they didn’t do much while I spent a few hours there.</p><p>After leaving the Soybucks I found myself caught in rush hour traffic to cross the border.  The guards practically waved me on through, though it was a pain in the ass waiting just to get there.  I thought about my first ‘odd job’ as I hit the accelerator to get away from the border checkpoint, figuring that if we had really tried going through there we probably would’ve been way late in the delivery.</p><p>Turned out I was very nearly late getting to the clinic.  Long shadows were already starting to stretch out, giving the very nearly crappy neighborhood some long and purple shadows.  The address was a bit north and well into what had been the Ute sector of Denver.  I think it was about when I was starting high school when the Ute nation itself collapsed.  It was already after that disaster with Terrance Prince, but all the media blips about the Ute Nation falling apart and the Pueblo Corporate Court coming into support got my parents talking all about how “A bunch of Injuns can’t fucking run a country.”  Yeah, another eye opener for me about the truth of my parents.</p><p>Anyway, the remains of the Ute sector didn’t look good.  Maybe the PCC didn’t have the resources to spruce it up or something.  I don’t know.  Politics sometimes makes my head hurt.</p><p>Jantico’s clinic almost didn’t look like a clinic.  Oh, sure, there was a dark gray awning with the name painted on it in about half a dozen languages, and the name was also painted on the windows on the front, but I would’ve taken this for something like a body mod shop over a clinic.  You know, the kind of place where you get a tattoo or a piercing (and they’ll pierce anything).</p><p>At least outside I saw a familiar looking van.  I parked beside it.</p><p>There was a jingle above my head when I walked in through the door.  When I looked I saw a tarnished bell waggling on a coil of metal.  Wow, talk about old fashioned.</p><p>The others had already beaten me here, I noticed.  Lucius noticed me first and waved me over.  I took my time, more so I could remove my helmet as I walked over to them.</p><p>Now if it wasn’t for the others I wouldn’t’ve recognized Risa when I saw her.  Gone was her dirty green clothes and mask and all, replaced with black and white Nike sneakers, a red skirt that was about halfway down her thigh, a sunshine yellow t-shirt, and a gold windbreaker.</p><p>“Whoa, that’s a change.” I remarked.</p><p>“Isn’t it?” Lucius asked, glancing down at little Risa.  “Just yesterday she wanted to go shopping.  Bought a bunch of new clothes and all.”</p><p>“Looks good.” I added.</p><p>Risa beamed.</p><p>“Well, at least now we can see about our appointment with the good doc.” Lucius said.  The others all stood and we walked as a group up to the receptionist’s desk.</p><p>The desk, counter, whatever, looked old and worn and rather beat.  Behind it was a human woman with fraying red hair who was looking just as worn and beat.  She gave us a tired look, stood, and gestured for us to follow her through an open doorway to the back of the clinic to see the doctor.</p><p>Well, not quite.  We were led to a small locker room, told to put our gear into a locker of our choosing before putting on that ugly sea foam green medical garb.  Scrubs, I think they’re called.  Masks, caps, aprons, the works.  The receptionist told us that we were going to be near patients and this was supposed to minimize infections for everyone.  I made sure to hold onto the key for the locker that had my stuff.</p><p>The receptionist then led us further back and into an operating room.  She ushered us off to one side while a surgeon was at work in someone’s stomach.  I did my best not to look in that direction.</p><p>“Dr. Johnson?” Lucius cautiously asked.</p><p>“Ah, yes.” the surgeon replied, “Sorry about this.  He came in suddenly and I couldn’t turn him away.  Please don’t worry, he’s fully sedated.”</p><p>The room looked a lot like a surgery room in all the medical trids, except a lot more cluttered and rundown.  Dr. Johnson also didn’t have an assistant while he worked, with the closest being what looked like an automated respirator and biomonitor that repeatedly let off a regular pattern of snap-hisses and beeps.</p><p>“And the reason you need us?” Lucius asked.</p><p>Dr. Johnson told us, “Every time the metahuman body is opened up there’s a shock to the system.  How well it handles this varies from person to person.  For some, especially those who are sick, elderly, or otherwise have failing health this can be exceptionally traumatic, even fatal.  And that doesn’t even begin to cover it for those who’re heavily augmented too.  There’s a new drug coming out onto the market, something that helps prevent the body from going into shock during surgery.  In short it saves lives.”</p><p>“And you want us to… acquire a supply for you.” Lucius said.</p><p>“Why not just get this wonder drug the regular way?” Roland asked.  “You the wrong kind of street doc?”</p><p>“I’m not licensed to receive this drug, yes.” Dr. Johnson admitted, “But the reasons are political, not because I don’t have a license or for anything related to malpractice.”</p><p>Ugh, politics again?</p><p>“I also do treat plenty of people who’re in your profession as well as just about this entire neighborhood.” Dr. Johnson told us.  I heard the clink of metal on metal as he spoke.  It made me think of those trids where the doctors are pulling bullets out of a person.  “I’ll be able to pay you, of course.”  Motion caught my attention and I noticed he looked us over, dark lenses of his goggles spinning as they changed their focus for him.  Turning back to his work, and cuing me to look back away again, Dr. Johnson continued, “I’ll be able to pay each of you four thousand nuyen each if you’re able to get me five cases.  Might be able to pay more if you can get more than that.”</p><p>“I think it’s safe to say that we’re in.” Lucius said, “Anything to help out a clinic in a poorer part of town.”</p><p>“Right, so what’s this drug and where might we score some of it?” Roland asked.</p><p>There was another clank of metal, and I heard some beeping.  I chanced a look and saw that Dr. Johnson was doing something with the biomonitor, and the patient’s stomach was now stitched closed.  “If you’ll follow me, please, we’ll go to another room to continue.”</p><p>Back out of the surgery room we went and further back into the clinic.  The hallway got a little cramped with one side dominated by those cheap, metal wire shelving racks.  There was an old guy, gray beard, tweed clothes, arranging crates in those shelves.  He pressed himself closer to the wall so we could get by.  Dr. Johnson ultimately led us into a conference room that looked like it’d seen better days.  Old table, those uncomfortable looking plastic chairs, and it had a desperate need of cleaning and organizing.</p><p>“It’s called cryosec,” Dr. Johnson told us, pulling off his latex gloves and tossing them into a trash can, “And the only place in Denver you’ll be able to get any at all will be the DocWagon hospital on Belleview Avenue.”</p><p>“DocWagon?” Lucius asked, pulling off his own gloves.  The rest of us were taking those sweaty things off too.</p><p>Roland whistled a single note that pitched down.</p><p>“That bad?” I asked.</p><p>“Well, it won’t be easy.” Roland said.  “I mean, you’re talking about a company whose field medics go <em>into</em> hostile territory to extract their patients.”</p><p>“Think of it as a hospital where at any given time the medics on staff are ready to deal with situations high threat response teams deal with.” Lucius added.</p><p>Um, okay, that’s bad.  I mean, getting shot at with a big gun kind of bad.  And considering all this I’d bet that target practice is mandatory as well.</p><p>“So, rather simple.” Lucius said, “We rob the DocWagon hospital on Belleview Avenue of five cases of this cryosec drug and deliver it to you.”</p><p>“Yes.” Dr. Johnson replied, still stripping off most of his surgical garb.  From underneath the cap was curly brown hair, and when he removed his goggles I could see bags underneath his brown eyes.  He looked just as tired and overworked as his receptionist, and this clinic.  “And I know this isn’t going to happen overnight.  But I’d like to have this within a week if at all possible.  The sooner I can get this drug the sooner I can save more lives.”</p>
<hr/><p>Okay, so our approach to this job was rather different than the previous ones.  Well, maybe close to when we had to kidnap Catherine…  I mean, in that we were scouting out the place before just waltzing on in to commit grand theft larceny.</p><p>I got to make a few drive-bys of the DocWagon hospital, and it didn’t matter how many times I went by it and around it I still felt the same about the place.  Maybe if the sun was up it’d be better.</p><p>For starters the place had a five meter tall wall and fence surrounding it.  One side was clearly the visitor’s entrance, with a small gate and a guard house.  I got a look at a parking lot and a brown statue situated between two small and rather unremarkable looking buildings.  Those two made a ‘V’ with a much larger and similarly unremarkable looking building more in the middle.  The far side was more fence than wall, but it still looked imposing enough when I did my drive-bys.  Here was another gate large enough for two vehicles to drive through, a loading dock kind of area for an ambulance to back up to, and I think one of the buildings was for the vehicles and probably paramedics.  During one of my drive-bys I saw a helicopter land on the center building.  As part of their security I did spot a pair of guards walking along the inside of the walls, but not much else.  The gatehouses also had a pair of guards.</p><p>Oh, I wasn’t just taking notes or anything, either.  Riding somewhat precariously on the handlebars of my Rapier was a minidrone of Roland’s.  He lent it to me so I could record my trips around the hospital.</p><p>And here’s another scary part of this place:  it’s only a few kilometers into the PCC sector from the CAS sector, which means there’s the Zone Defense Force not too far away.  Legally I think those guys can’t do much, unless they get called in for backup or something.  They didn’t give me any hassles when I crossed over into the CAS sector, making my way back to the garage.</p><p>No one was waiting for me once I got to the garage.  Jerks.  It took me some pounding on one of the garage doors to get someone’s attention.  I think I might’ve started leaving a dent in the door before it finally started rolling up.  Lucius was at the controls as I walked my Rapier inside.</p><p>“C’mon back to the kitchen.  It’ll be a while before we’ve got everyone.” Lucius told me, closing the garage door once I was inside.</p><p>When Lucius said it would be a while he wasn’t kidding.  I was already on my third can of 40 Caliber by the time Roland and Risa joined us.  I’d already promised Lucius I’d buy a case of beer considering how much I’d had to drink.</p><p>“Right, now that we’re together, and before the Little Lady gets herself too sloshed to keep up with us, Let’s get this started.” Lucius said.</p><p>“First up,” continued Lucius, “the good Doc Tico is pretty much that.  A good doctor.  Oh, he does patch up other runners and the sort, and bills them, but the regular folks in the neighborhood get their care for free or cheap.  He’ll also be patching up gangers, Godz mostly, but they and the Ghostriders and Zombies all treat his place as neutral territory since he’ll patch them all up without question.  So long as they can pay.</p><p>“Then there’s the drug, cryosec.  It’s so new there’s no generic version just yet.  PharmaDyne’s making it and it just got approved for a limited release earlier this year.  DocWagon’s got a special agreement for the public trials, and so far their demand’s beyond PharmaDyne’s ability to make this drug.  As far as my source knows it does just as the good doctor told us.”</p><p>“And if we were to sell it on the street ourselves?” Roland asked.</p><p>“Then we wouldn’t get any more than the doc’s payin’ us.” Lucius answered.</p><p>“Right.  Just checkin’.”</p><p>“So, Shay, Roland, what’d you find out?”</p><p>“Magic time, kiddies.” Roland said.</p><p>Brick was already putting on his glasses, and oddly Risa was putting her mask on, as Roland conjured up an ARO of the DocWagon hospital for everyone in the middle of the kitchen table.  It looked like a composite image from whatever recording that minidrone had been doing.</p><p>“Their on-site security’s pretty good to start with.” Roland said, “Four guards at either gate, and I think they got two more that’ll walk the inside of the wall.  One building looks like it’s the ambulance barn and all that.”  If I was looking at the place from the front, where visitors would go, the right hand building turned a glowy red color.  “It looks like that’s also where they handle receiving supplies as well.  Found there’s a receiving clerk stationed there.  The other little building…”  The left hand building turned a similarly glowy blue.  “…is all the administration stuff.  HR, offices, that sort.  That leaves the big one in the middle…”  The two side buildings returned to normal, and the big one in the center turned green.  “…the functional hospital.  Once I was in I could access all of the patient’s data records, inventories, and a whole shitload of other data.  A lot, except for the actual security of the place.  Since they can’t be seriously running without any security of any kind then I figure it’s a standalone network without wireless.”</p><p>“Fuck.  So how do you hack it?” I asked, my head feeling a little light and easy to bob about.  I did my best to keep from becoming like a ragdoll.</p><p>“For that it’s as simple as finding a security camera and plugging in a wireless adapter.” Roland answered.  “Should be able to pick one up from a nearby Radio Shack for cheap.  The hard part is getting it plugged in.”</p><p>“And if we have to leave it behind?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“They don’t run more than two hundred, and they’re common, so it’s not like we’re too seriously butt hurt if it gets left behind.” Roland replied.  “Don’t worry about evidence, I can take care of it pretty good.”</p><p>“So we won’t know where we’re going until we can get that adapter.” Lucius reasoned.</p><p>“Maybe not.” Roland told us.  The ARO model turned ghostly, the two smaller buildings disappearing entirely while the third one looked like the inside of a hospital, if we could see through the walls.  “Once I got the data from the bug riding with Shay I noticed something.  The node sculpting inside matches up perfectly with the exterior for what could be seen.  The front door, the back doors, the hallways to the other buildings.  It was perfect.”</p><p>“Wait.  You’re saying their matrix administrator made the node look like the real deal?” I asked.</p><p>“Super wiz if it’s true, and I think it is.” Roland answered.  “Once I got through the log-in entrance was the front door in front of the receptionist’s desk.”</p><p>“And a big edge for us, too.” Lucius added.  “Especially when we can get the security feeds as well.”</p><p>“Right.  Anyway,” Roland continued, “considering the layout I am reasonably sure that the drugs are here.”  An interior room on the third floor blinked green.  “The second and fourth floors are all ER suites, and that outer bit of rooms on the third.  The fifth I think is for the staff and a cafeteria.  The sixth floor and up are all patient recovery.”</p><p>“So getting in is going to be a bit of the hard part.” Lucius said.  “Still, and there’s also the magical side of things.”</p><p>I kinda felt sorry for little Risa, getting put on the spot like that.  But then she was also the only magician in the room, the only person who could pop out of her body and exist entirely in the astral to zip around and all.</p><p>“The magic’s… heavier there.” Risa softly said.  “I saw two watchers and a home spirit there.  They all floated around outside and never went into the buildings.”</p><p>“Are the buildings warded?” Lucius asked.</p><p>Risa shook her head.  “Two rooms in the blue building have wards, but the rest is all open.”</p><p>“Any awakened people there?”</p><p>Again Risa shook her head.</p><p>“You know that’s not gonna mean much.” Roland said.  “Might’ve been off shift or out on a call.”</p><p>“I did see a helicopter land while I was there.” I added.</p><p>“And three landing pads in the node sculpting.” Roland added.</p><p>“So it’s possible there’s a few more med-evac flights out there, and maybe a healer on one of them.” Lucius said.</p><p>“I go back in I might be able to get the crew rosters.” Roland said.  “Should have a listing of mages and what spells they know.”</p><p><em>Or at least what they’ve admitted to knowing</em>, I ruefully thought.  No one else here knew the bunch of silver rings I wore allowed me to cast any magic at all.  About all the others knew were that I was an adept with some athletic related abilities.</p><p>“But what about those spirits?” I asked.</p><p>“Risa?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Watchers usually don’t pay attention to the real world.” Risa told us, “But they can still alert others.  The other spirit can cross over to affect us.  But we can’t know what they’re told to do.”</p><p>“Best then will be to do what we can to avoid them.” reasoned Roland.</p><p>“Also likely they won’t go crazy for just anyone.” Lucius added.  “Gotta consider all the human traffic that can go in and out.  Wouldn’t be a point having a watcher alert you to everyone that comes onto the property like they’re intruders because you’ve potentially got visitors and patients coming and going.”</p><p>“So we’ve got the human factor to deal with.  How’re we gonna get past that?” asked Roland.</p><p>“Surprise inspection?” Brick asked.</p><p>Lucius shook his head.  “Be too obvious.  That’s overused even in the trids.”</p><p>“I think I saw a delivery schedule.” Roland said, “I’ll have to go back in and look.”</p><p>“See what all you can dig up, we might have an option there.” Lucius said.  “And with that maybe we should call it a night.  Get some rest and see what we can do in the morning.”</p>
<hr/><p>After a hot shower and getting dried off I stretched out on my bed to try and relax.  Didn’t seem so easy, what with planning to break into a rather high security hospital and all.  I mean, we’re talking about guys who shoot real bullets at people to get a patient out of harm’s way.</p><p>But something like this…  It wasn’t quite what I thought it’d be.  You see it on the trids, clandestine meetings in bars or back rooms, all low lights and hazy with cigarette smoke, or shadowy back alley deals with a slip of the hand a couple of chips are passed between two guys in long coats.</p><p>Shit, most of the stuff we’ve done was during broad daylight!</p><p>My first job, I guess, was during evening rush hour.</p><p>I had gone clothes shopping as part of a job to kidnap a little girl.  Had to take a few deep breaths to keep from bursting out into tears thinking about what happened to Catherine on that job.</p><p>Then there were those three hijacking jobs we did in the mornings.  Plenty of daylight then.</p><p>I fell asleep thinking, wondering how we were going to get in to get the drugs and get out.  I was also wondering just what all I’d be able to do to help.</p>
<hr/><p>There’s an advantage to springing that extra cred for color changing clothing.  You can effectively change your style without changing clothes.  Hell, you can even upload camouflage patterns as well.  I didn’t do something so drastic as that, though the next morning.  My boots, tights, and jacket were changed to a candy orange while my shirt and helmet were bright red.  I got paired up with Roland and Risa to head back to the DocWagon facility to help in trying to break into their security network.  I kinda figured I’d end up watching Roland while he pretended to be unconscious while in VR or something.</p><p>After breakfast we went out while Lucius and Brick went elsewhere.  Lucius told he thought he had a way for us to get in, but it also depended on us getting Roland access into the facility’s security network.</p><p>So in a round-a-bout trip through the CAS sector before going over to the PCC side, stopping at a fast food complex that wasn’t too far off from the DocWagon facility.  Once we were parked Roland opened up the package that the wireless adapter had come in and pulled out a little drone that looked like a dragonfly.  He held the two of them, one in each hand, thoughtfully.</p><p>“Something wrong?” I asked.</p><p>“Trying to figure out how I’m gonna get this drone to carry the adapter so I can fly it in and plug it into a camera or something.” Roland grumbled.  “If I’m not careful the beak on this thing can snip it right in half, and the legs aren’t exactly made to grip things.”</p><p>“Thought you’d have something rigged up to make it work.” I said.</p><p>Roland grumbled.  “I might be able to make something, but it’ll take a day or so to do it.”</p><p>“Might they hear the drone?” Risa asked.</p><p>“Yeah, they might hear the fans buzzing.” Roland told us, “But it’s tiny and if they’re not looking for it no one might notice it.”</p><p>“How does it work?” Risa asked.</p><p>“I get this,” Roland said, holding up the little adapter that wasn’t much larger than the last joint of my pinkie finger, “plugged into the back of a security camera that’s hardwired into their security grid, and that camera becomes a wireless access point I can use to hack into.”</p><p>“Just plug it in?”</p><p>“Yeah, just plug it in.”</p><p>“I can do it.” Risa announced.</p><p>“Now I know you can go invisible, but that spirit and those watchers will see you immediately.” Roland told her.  “On top of that you’d have to go through the gate or over the wall somehow, unless you can fly.”</p><p>Risa stood up from her seat and took a few steps towards the back of the van.  She turned to face us, arms spread wide.  In a split second she shrank, just about disappearing as she turned into a black bird that was standing in a pile of her clothes.  She flapped her wings a few times before folding them back.</p><p>I glanced over to Roland, and the wide eyed expression he had told me he didn’t know Risa could do this either.</p><p>I suddenly remembered something Lucius had told me about a month ago:  “This is a world of knowledge and secrets.”  Clearly Risa had kept the secret of this spell to herself.</p><p>And once the shock of little Risa’s transformation had passed it hit me just how super wiz such a spell was!  I mean, seriously, who wouldn’t love to be able to transform into a bird and go soaring on a bright sunshiny day?  Or become a seal and go for a swim off the coast?  Clearly there were drawbacks, as the teacher for that magical theory course I had to take did state that shapechanging magic had one axiom and it was that it was just you that changed.  Unlike the trids, comics, animation, and the sort, whatever you were wearing or carrying didn’t change with you, so you had to either be careful about where you changed back or just learn to not care about exposing your ass to whoever when you let the spell end.  You also had to be careful when you changed from human form too, as you can get a bit bigger and your clothing might suddenly pinch you in new ways you never dreamed of.</p><p>But then there’s the dragons, the cheaters.  Whenever they take human form they also come fully clothed.  But then they know stuff we don’t when it comes to magic and all sorts of shit, and the assholes don’t share diddly squat with anyone either.</p><p>“Okay then.” Roland said, nodding, as he recovered from Risa’s surprise transformation.  “You think you can get in and get this plugged in?”</p><p>“<em>Caw!</em>” was Risa’s reply, hopping forward out of the pile of her clothes.</p><p>Roland tossed the wireless adapter towards Risa.  It hit the floor and bounced a little while she simply watched it.  Once it came to a rest she hopped over to it, grasping it with one foot.  She stood there on one foot until Roland got a window rolled down for her, of which she promptly flew out.</p><p>I took another look at Roland, and from the look on his face I thought it might be better that we just sit and wait for Risa’s return.  Or something.  He didn’t look to be in a talkative mood right now.  I decided to try and figure out what kind of bird it was that Risa had transformed into while we waited.</p><p>It seemed to take forever, several hours at least, before the crow known as Risa alighted on the passenger side mirror.  I figured right away that it was her but Roland didn’t open the window until she pecked at it a few times.  She wasn’t carrying the adapter.</p><p>“Okay, out.” I sternly said to Roland.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>Risa hopped over to her pile of clothes while I said, “Black out the windows and get out.  Five minutes, it’s a girls’ only room.”</p><p>It might’ve been remotely, but Roland did get out of the van while Risa hopped onto the front seat’s armrest.  By the time Roland had closed his door and the windows were blacking out totally she had hopped back to where her clothes had fallen when she transformed.  The dome light glowed softly as I watched a crow morph back into a little dark skinned, naked girl, crouching just behind her clothes and eyeing me with her dark eyes wide open.  I also looked away, glancing more towards the front doors to keep an eye out for Roland.  I didn’t really think he’d try to peep in on Risa, but it did kinda give me an excuse to not be facing her while she dressed.</p><p>“Thank you.” I heard Risa softly say, just above the rustle of fabric as she dressed.</p><p>“Hey, we girls gotta stick together.” I said, a lot more confidently and all.</p><p>It didn’t take Risa that long to get dressed again.  Fully clothed she walked in front of me and leaned over to give me a hug.  Yeah, I hugged the kid back.  Looked like she was feeling good about herself when she sat down in her seat again.</p><p>Roland was certainly punctual.  I’d guess it was right at five minutes exactly when he pounded twice on his door before just opening it up and climbing back into the driver’s seat.  “Well, looks like you’ve got it plugged in alright.” he told us, “Got the camera and everything.  I’ll want to take some time on this though.  Like any corp they’re gonna be sticklers about their security.  It’ll take several hours to break in.”</p><p>“Do we have to do it here?” I asked.</p><p>Roland sighed.  “Not really, but letting it daisy chain could make it easier to get noticed.  But then, a lot of wireless traffic’s daisy chained.”  He stared thoughtfully at a black windshield for some seconds before saying, “Why don’t you two go get us lunch while I set things up, then we’ll head for home.”</p>
<hr/><p>Not all fast food is created equal.  A McHugh’s or Nukit Burger would’ve been preferable to the burger joint we got lunch from.  That or someone really screwed up with the flavor packets for their soy products.  At least the soda wasn’t fucked up, the Buzz Cola tasting like it should, if maybe a little weak.  The three of us didn’t really eat much, and it was too cheap to try and be a bitch about the quality to get a refund either.  Taking another round-a-bout trip to the garage we stopped by a Street Pizza and got food that actually tasted good enough to eat.</p><p>Once back at the garage Roland took his pizza and trotted off to his room to start probing the facility’s security network.  Lucius and Brick were still out, so I went to my room and logged into one of the entertainment networks, NBS, for a really old program that had been suggested to me.  Okay, so old that there isn’t a VR or simsense version, nor was it filmed in trideo.  The pilot episode of <em>Space Fleet</em> kinda seemed interesting.</p><p>It was some time later, part way into the third episode of <em>Space Fleet</em> and about half of my pizza was eaten by the time I heard the rumbling of one of the garage doors.  I set a bookmark for my progress in the episode and closed out the ARO before leaving my room.  The guys were just getting out of Lucius’s car, and I saw the elf wave at me to come down as they headed for the kitchen.  Risa was just coming out of her room as I passed her door, and I gestured for her to follow me.</p><p>I heard the ka-chunk of the soda machine dropping a can as I walked into the kitchen, seeing Brick with a can of beer in one hand.  I went straight on over to the machine and hit the button for a Buzz Cola for myself.  I heard another can fall as I walked over to the table to sit down, popping the tab and taking a swig of cola.  Risa sat beside me, a Buzz Cola of her own in hand.</p><p>“Right, I take it Roland’s still working over DocWagon’s security?” Lucius asked, already seated at his customary spot.</p><p>“I guess.” I answered, “I mean, he went straight to his room when we got back.  I’ve been in mine for a couple hours, so I don’t know if he’s left or what.”</p><p>“Don’t worry about it.” Lucius told me as I took another drink.  “He’s probably doing a slower probe attack on their network.  Takes a lot longer to get through but he’s also not as likely to get detected doing it.</p><p>“Anyway, what I want to talk to you is the rest of the plan about getting in and out.  The short of it is we’re going to make a delivery.  We just roll right up like we’re dropping off a supply of meds and walk right on in.  Well, the three of us, anyway.”  He gestured to himself, me, and Brick.  “Sorry Risa, but you look way too young to be working with a delivery crew.”</p><p>“I could go invisible.” Risa suggested.</p><p>Lucius shook his head.  “Don’t forget those spirits.  If you’re invisible to the rest of us you’re gonna be lit up like a spotlight.  We might not know what their tasks are, but if I was running security I’d be sure to have them on over watch for all magic not involving known magicians.  Worst case you’ll get us all arrested.”</p><p>“Or shot.” I added, remembering what I’d read about their rescue teams.</p><p>“Not sure they take their security <em>that</em> seriously.” Lucius said, “But it’s still a real possibility.”</p><p>Risa looked a little dejected.</p><p>“Not like you’re off the job.” Lucius added.  “Roland should have someone to watch his body while he’s in DocWagon’s networks.  Probably could use a good spirit at your side, too.”</p><p>“So when are we gonna do this?” I asked, taking a good draw on my cola.</p><p>“Depends on when Roland gets in, and can get us added to their deliveries.” Lucius answered.  “Got introduced to someone who’ll lend us the uniforms and a truck so we can get in.  We’ll just want to make sure to hit a gap in their delivery schedule so we can slip in.”</p><p>“So what am I supposed to do?” I asked.  “I mean, I can figure it out for you and Brick…  But I…  I don’t know.”</p><p>“True, it’d seem simple enough.” Lucius said, “I’m the driver and Brick’s the loader.  But having an extra pair of eyes to watch for trouble will be invaluable.  And delivery crews aren’t always a pair of guys.  For extra loads there’s sometimes three people.”</p><p>“New hire.” Brick said.</p><p>“That too.” agreed Lucius.  “Sometimes the third person’s a newbie learning the ropes.  Should be easy enough for you to do.”</p><p>“Great.” I muttered.</p><p>Lucius sighed.  “You’re young, younger than your ID will say you are.  All you’ve got to do is be there and follow our directions.  It shouldn’t be too hard.  I’ll do the talking.”</p><p>“Like you’re the boss or something.”</p><p>“Or something.  Yeah.”  Lucius tried smiling, but it felt like plastic to me, “It’ll just be while we’re at the hospital.”</p><p>“Guess there’s not much to do until then.” I muttered, shoving the partly full can of cola deeper onto the table before standing.</p><p>“Where’re you going?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“My room.” I answered, “Doesn’t look like I’ve got anything else to do till we go do the job, so text me or something when it’s time to go.”</p>
<hr/><p>Okay, so I didn’t really spend the whole time in my room.  I started off diving into VR into that demon slayer game, pushing along the solo player story.  After a couple of gory missions, blasting away brains with a shotgun, I got hungry.  I logged off after the next checkpoint.</p><p>It was late, the sun had set some time ago I guess.  Despite the darkness engulfing the garage I was able to make my way to the kitchen without having any accidents.  After my eyes adjusted to the low lights I was able to see well enough.</p><p>Roland was in the kitchen and I guess he’d had the same idea I did:  dinner.  The lights were comfortably low, more than enough to see by but not too much to blind you.  I lazily gestured a ‘hi’ to him and he simply nodded.  I grabbed a plate and walked over to the SPU, accessed the menu of available foods and such, and plugged in something for nourishment.  It dutifully waited for me to put the plate in and close the door before even beginning its work.  While it churned away I stepped over to the vending machine and hit the button for a can of beer.</p><p>“So, I hear the team meeting didn’t go too smooth.” Roland said.</p><p>“Yeah.” I muttered.</p><p>“Still tryin’ to figure out what good you’ll be?”</p><p>I pulled the tab on the can of beer.  Holding it in both hands I said, “I feel like I’m going along just to sit in the corner.” I told him.  “Like all I’m good for is playing the part of a blond bimbo, a joygirl, or something.”</p><p>Roland scoffed.  “Hardly that.” he said.</p><p>The SPU chimed when it finished my plate.  I collected what was supposed to be a rendition of a roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy over all of it.  I set it and my beer down on the table before turning around to grab some silverware.  Hah, ‘silver’ ware.  Was really stainless steel.</p><p>“So what can I do that the guys can’t?” I asked as I sat down.  “Lucius could charm a snake out of its skin and Brick can lay out trolls with his fists.”</p><p>Roland leaned in closer to me, and with his cybernetic hand he tapped his temple.  “You got a brain.” he said, “You got your eyes and ears.  Hell, what you did on that last job you also got one hell of a kick.”  He chuckled.  “Might be a bit stupid, but you’re also the only one of the three of you going in that knows how to use a gun.  Might come in handy.”</p><p>It was my turn to scoff.  “I’m hardly a good shot.” I told the dwarf.  “I only got it because someone suggested I pack heat.  The campus is safe enough, I guess, but…”</p><p>“I get ya.  And yeah, I seen ya shoot.  But you don’t practice so of course you’re not a good shot.  So what?  You know how scared some people get just hearing a gunshot?  At seeing a gun pointed at them?  Okay, maybe those DocWagon people aren’t gonna be so scared, but until they actually see you pull it they’ve got to wonder how good you might be before you pull it.  You just gotta build up your confidence, bullshit them if you must, but if you come off like you know what you’re doing you might make them reconsider.”</p><p>“So you think I should keep my gun on me when we go in?” I asked.</p><p>“Load it with stick-n-shock.  Magazines too.  Unless they’ve got nonconductive armor it’ll help put them down without killing them.” Roland said.  “That’s another thing you’ve got to work out for yourself.  When you do pull that little Colt you’ve gotta be ready to shoot.”</p><p>“I’d rather not shoot anyone.” I softly said, staring down at my dinner.</p><p>“I’d rather not shoot anyone either.” Roland admitted, “And any decent person will feel the same.  But not everyone has that luxury.  There’s times where we gotta shoot the other guy or they shoot us.  Don’t know about you but I’d rather keep on breathing.”  I looked up and our eyes met.  “Hey, don’t think on it.  Just have a beer, get some dinner, and you’ll feel better.  Tomorrow on the job, pack it or don’t pack it, doesn’t matter.”</p><p>And with that Roland got up and left me alone in the kitchen with my dinner.  Shit, and I was kinda hoping for a quiet dinner to myself and he leaves me with this shit on my mind.</p><p>Well, turned out Roland was right about something.  While I was thinking, or trying to think, I ended up taking a drink of beer.  Then I realized how hungry I was, and after a while I realized I had eaten half of my dinner.</p><p>After eating and cleaning up I thought I’d go back to my room and try to figure out what to do next.  Maybe sleep?  It was plenty late.</p><p>Roland met me just as I was walking out of the kitchen, his bedroom door just off to the side.</p><p>“Look, Lucius told me some time ago about your little dilemma, how to contribute and all.” he said, “Now I know it might not be easy.  Hell, you might not really figure out one thing at all.  Even told me you two had talked a bit about the differences between the trids and reality.”</p><p>“Yeah, found some really strange shit out there.” I said.</p><p>“Yeah, well, this,” he said, holding up a chip, “might not be so bad.  It’s old, 2D old, but it’s got a good story.  Give it a try.  Might at least help you figure out that you’re still a big help to us, no matter what.”</p><p>I accepted the chip and gave Roland my thanks before heading off up the stairs to my room.  I actually watched the first two episodes of the really old anime before putting everything away to go to bed.  Okay, the artwork of the series was pretty damned dated.  I mean, it must’ve been hand drawn!  The opening music had just as dated CGI as well, stuff that was low res when VR first came about.  The stories of the episodes weren’t really connected, though, no overall arching plot and all.  The technology was also way different than reality.  Set in 2030 there were apparently not just cybernetics like I knew them but something called “full body prosthetic,” like someone’s brain was put into a jar or something and then placed into a fully mechanized body!  And eww, the first episode had a politician that liked to “body swap” with a robo-geisha.  Plug-and-play brains?  Yuck.</p>
<hr/><p>The next morning I watched three more episodes of that archaic animated program.  Yeah, the story hooked me.  I also left it aside so I could do my morning workout.  When I caught up with Roland for breakfast I returned the data chip to him, having made a copy for myself.</p><p>And since it was Monday and there wasn’t really much for me to do besides loaf around until later that evening, I went back off to the university for my regular classes.  Yes, one of those was psychology, the class I share with Allison.  I still wasn’t ready to talk about work, or last Saturday, and I was glad Allison wasn’t ready to force that issue.  We did exchange a flew pleasantries after the class, but that was it.  Somewhere after lunch, during one of my other classes, Lucius sent me a text about when I should be back at the garage.  Things were set to happen later that evening.  After my last class I went to my dorm to gear up and make sure I had all the clips loaded with stick-n-shock bullets for my gun.  Afterwards I stopped by a Cap’n Beef for dinner before swapping my identity around and heading back to the garage.</p><p>We all rode in Roland’s van, crossing over to the PCC sector and going deeper in, past the DocWagon facility we’d be robbing later, and adding a sour, sinking feeling to my stomach.  Where we ended up going to felt more like the right kind of place:  a rundown factory out in the middle of nowhere.  In the parking lot was a delivery truck and as Roland pulled up beside it a lanky looking guy got out.  The truck was mostly white, with the word “SWIFT” painted at a slant on the side in bright blue letters.  I got out with Lucius and Brick, and when my feet hit the ground I realized just how tall this guy was, which really added to just how scrawny and gawky looking he was.  He was taller than Lucius so I really had to look up at this guy.  He wore jeans and a denim jacket over what should’ve been a white shirt (it looked heavily stained with what I hoped was sweat), and had uncut brown hair that was limp and stringy as it hung past his shoulders.  I really didn’t like how his beady little eyes followed me.</p><p>“Who’s the chika?” he asked Lucius.</p><p>“Just an extra body for the job.” Lucius answered.  “Got the stuff?”</p><p>“Yeah, in the back.” the guy replied, still looking at me.  “You sure she’s not a joytoy trying to make a score?”</p><p>Okay, I’ve had it!  I rushed the grease ball and I didn’t give a shit about it.  I got three paces before Lucius got in my way, stretching out an arm to block me.  I stopped short of clothes lining myself, close enough I could feel the heat of my breath against his arm.</p><p>“Listen… Kyle,” Lucius said, “you’re getting this one pass.  Go slot a chip or something, because one more word like that and you’re not only out your cut but I’ll let the Little Lady here have at you.  Honest to ghost you don’t want that.”</p><p>The grease ball gave me a sly look.  “Ya sure ‘bout that?  Bet we could…”</p><p>“<em>Stop</em>.” Lucius barked, and Kyle froze for half a second.  Before Kyle could recover he continued, “Last guy that tried to be a choomba with her ate the floorboards while she dislocated his shoulder.  You scan?”</p><p>Kyle’s expression went from amused to annoyed as he shifted his gaze from me back to Lucius.  “Yeah, I scan.” he grumbled, his gaze turning from something lustful to giving me the stink eye.  “Uniforms’re inside.”  With that he meandered off towards the way we came in.</p><p>“His cut?” I asked as Lucius lowered his arm.</p><p>“He’s looking for a score from our job.” Lucius told me, turning to watch Kyle walk away.  “Nothing hard or that much, really.  Just some more drugs from the job than what we’re hired for.  Pays for the truck and everything.”</p><p>“Fine.” I muttered, walking along the van to the back doors.  What was a drug or three more compared to the cryosec we were already going to steal.  Wasn’t there a line, “In for a penny, in for a pound”?  What the hell was a penny or a pound?</p><p>The truck’s back doors must’ve been unlocked or something as Brick was already inside, putting on a uniform jacket.  I hopped up with him and found one that was closer to my size and swapped it out for my regular jacket.  It was just a little low enough to hide my gun a little bit.</p><p>Once we were all set I rode shotgun while Lucius drove us towards the DocWagon facility.  Brick stood in the little doorway to the back area of the van.  Roland had set up his TalkTime chat again, saying he’d added an extra encryption program to help make sure it was private.</p><p>“You know that guy personally?” I asked.</p><p>“Who, Kyle?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“First time meeting him.” Lucius told me.  “We know a guy.  He’s the one that set up the meet with Kyle and the truck and all.  Kyle’s the one that works for the company that regularly delivers to DocWagon, so that’s how we’re getting in.”</p><p>“Didn’t think they liked surprises.  DocWagon, that is.”</p><p>“Hardly.  But we should be on the list.”</p><p>“<em>Yeah.  You guys might show up a little late, but then who’s ever on time?</em>” Roland said over the chat, his voice coming across with a digital tang in the earbuds I wore.  “<em>Should be able to just roll on up to the back gate and get in.</em>”</p><p>“Like we’re making a delivery?” I asked.</p><p>“Like we’re making a delivery.” Lucius repeated.</p><p>I guess Lucius got a bit more than just the truck too.  Like right where to go and all.  He drove us straight to the back and right up to the gate.  I tried to keep from looking scared as all heck while two guards walked up to the truck.  One of them came up to Lucius on his side to talk while the other guard, holding a big ass assault rifle, slowly walked around the truck from my side.</p><p>“What’s with her?” I heard the guard ask Lucius.  “Looks like she’s about to throw up.”</p><p>Lucius sighed.  “New hire on her first run.  I think it’s your friend’s big gun that’s making her green.”</p><p>“Yeah, I hear ya.” the guard returned, sounding a little bored.  “Looks like everything’s in order.  Go to the garage on the left, Mr. Bocard’ll check you in.”</p><p>“Thanks.” Lucius said, putting the truck into gear to pull into the facility once the guard had stepped back.  He must’ve also signaled ahead or something because the big garage door to the building on our left started rolling up as Lucius drove onto the property.</p><p>And that’s when I felt it.  It isn’t exactly something tangible, and I’m pretty sure mundane people wouldn’t even notice it, but I could feel it.  Pretty sure Lucius felt it too, or noticed, or whatever.  For me there was a kind of… heaviness to the air, like Risa described.  Not that it suddenly got harder to breathe or anything, and not like there was actual pressure all around me like I was in a sauna or something.  And it wasn’t much, really, but I could feel it that something in my talents was going to be hampered.</p><p>This also wasn’t the first time I’d been in an area like this.  Part of the schooling I was required to take required exposure to something called a “Background Count” where extra magic was built up.  Felt the same then too.  For another person in the class it felt like being in a cloud of static electricity.</p><p>Lucius had to pull far over to the right as a DocWagon ambulance came screaming out of the garage door we were heading to, lights flashing and siren blaring, and the damn thing blasted out a bunch of AR spam to boot.  Not far behind that came a second one, screaming like the first.  Once the mostly white, black, and red ambulances had rushed past Lucius got our truck moving and continued driving on inside the side building.  He took it slow as he drove inside.  Just inside, on my side of the truck, I saw an elderly man at a podium.  Lucius stopped the truck in a predetermined box painted on the floor in an ugly shade of yellow.  You know that color, you see it on the roads everywhere, marking off lanes and “No Parking” zones and the like.</p><p>“Alright, time to get to work.” Lucius said as killed the truck’s engine.  He and I both got out while Brick stayed in the truck.</p><p>“<em>I’ve got you on their security cameras, don’t you worry.</em>” I heard Roland say through the chat program.  “<em>And I’ve got a little something for you as well.</em>”</p><p>I looked up and around, searching the corners of the building for evidence of those security cameras.  At the same time, in the lower left corner of my vision popped up a circle shaped ARO with a floor plan of the building we were in, complete with little dots to mark me, Lucius, and Brick.  It was just like a video game.</p><p>“Can I help you, miss?” a man asked me.  I nearly jumped out of my skin to see the old guy from the podium now looking at me.</p><p>Oh crap.  What do I say?  What should I do?</p><p>“Hi,” piped in Lucius, “Swift Transport.  Mr. Bocard?  We got an emergency delivery here.”</p><p>The old guy at the podium turned to Lucius.  “Yeah, that’s me.  Saw you show up on the work list yesterday.  You guys forget something?”</p><p>“Not quite sure.” Lucius replied.  Behind the truck I heard something buzzing.  “Here’s the manifest for our delivery.” Lucius said, waving his hand in front of him as he manipulated unseen AROs.</p><p>Mr. Bocard started waving a hand of his own, like he was flipping through pages in an ARO of his own.  “Everything looks in order.” he said, “Three cases of epinephrine, two cases of hydrocortisone, two cases of naloxone.”  I saw Brick appear from the back of the truck, a freight dolly in his hands with a stack of boxes.  Mr. Bocard looked them over, nodding.  “Looks like it’s all here.”  Then he looked at me and said, “Seems like overkill for three of you.”</p><p>Gulp.</p><p>“New kid.” Lucius said right away.  “Part timer, learning the ropes.”</p><p>Mr. Bocard gave me a once over, and boy did I feel nervous about it.</p><p>“Alright then.” Mr. Bocard said, walking back over to the podium.  From inside he procured three clip-on ID cards.  “Make sure you keep these on you at all times.  They’ll give you access to the elevators for the third floor.  Just go down the tube, inside the main building and just to the left you’ll see the elevators.”  In my mini-map I saw another blip move from me, tracing his movements.</p><p>“Thanks.” Lucius said, taking the ID cards and passing one to me and Brick.  We clipped them onto our jackets.  Lucius led the way, with Brick and the dolly right behind him, and me behind them.</p><p>The tube, as Mr. Bocard had put it, was literally that.  Like walking down the inside of a giant pipe from the garage to the hospital, and it was more than high enough for trolls to walk without bumping their heads.  There was no door at the end of the tube, and the further down the tube we walked the more the smell of the air changed.  Back where we came in, I guess because the garage door was open, it smelled like the outside with some grease and concrete and stuff.  It was clear there was no door at the other end either, that antiseptic smell of hospitals flooding the air and starting to overwhelm our noses.  At the end of the tube was the corner of a hallway where we could go straight on ahead or veer off to the left.  Lucius went left and it looked like we could go straight to the front reception desk.  But we didn’t go that far as the elevators were right there.  Glancing at the mini-map I could see where there were toilets, a bunch of surgery tables, and all sorts of other interesting things (if this were a video game).  There were also more blips to indicate other people on this floor.</p><p>“<em>Not to worry.</em>” Roland said over our private connection, “<em>Got you all clearly on the security cameras.  I’ll make sure to take care of it.</em>”</p><p>The elevator doors opened up for us automatically, and I followed the guys in.  It certainly was a good sized elevator, more than large enough to accommodate a troll on a stretcher, even.  It certainly wasn’t a freight elevator, that much I was sure of.</p><p>The third floor felt different than the ground floor.  The air wasn’t so sharp with the antiseptic and things sounded quieter.  There were numerous rooms, and the hallway that pretty much started at our end nearly made a complete circuit around the floor.  There was a large room in the center that had two different doors to get in.</p><p>Lucius strode right on out like he knew the place.  Shit, if I didn’t know any better I’d say he had been here before.  The first sign I was able to read that was on a door to those rooms I saw in the mini-map was a marker for an emergency room.  Well, DocWagon specializes in medical emergencies and the like, so I guess it shouldn’t’ve been a surprise that after we rounded the corner I saw like half a dozen of them, doors open and the ones we past were all empty.  Guess it was a slow night so far.</p><p>“Hi.” Lucius said with added cheer as he walked up to the door to the storeroom, one of those two doors to the large room in the middle.  “We’ve got a delivery for you.”</p><p>Peeking at the mini-map I saw a blip coming close to a far corner of the hallway.  I looked that way when it just started to come around the corner and saw a janitor pushing a cart of cleaning supplies.  There were two more blips in that big central room, one of them at the door with Lucius.  I felt my stomach twist about, trying to think about what we were going to do with two people working in the storeroom.</p><p>The door to the storeroom itself was one of those split jobs, half door, half window.  Appearing just from the side was a human woman, a nurse based on her attire.  “Yes, we’ve been expecting you.” she said, eyeing Lucius.</p><p>“Here’s the paperwork.” Lucius said, waving his hand to send her whatever ARO documents Roland had cooked up.  “We’ll go ahead and take care of everything if you’ll just<em> let us in</em>.”</p><p>The nurse seemed to pause for a bit, her eyes stopped that back and forth reading action.  When she looked up I thought she might’ve been in a daze or something.</p><p>“Just a moment.” she said, seemingly back to normal as she stepped out of view.</p><p>“<em>Looks like she’s grabbing a key.</em>” Roland told us.  “<em>There’s cameras in the corners and I can see just about everything in there.  Too bad I don’t have a list of what’s where.</em>”</p><p>When the nurse came back I heard a lock click.  She then worked two other locks and opened the door for us.  He stepped right on in, with Brick and myself just behind him.</p><p>“What’re you doing in here?” I heard another woman ask.</p><p>Brick stopped, setting the dolly of boxes upright as Lucius said, “We’re making an emergency delivery of…”</p><p>“I don’t care what you’re delivering, you’re not supposed to be in here!” the other nurse declared.</p><p>“Restrain them.” Lucius ordered.</p><p>Brick grabbed the second nurse and the one that let us in, moving faster than either of them (or me) expected.  Guess he got the nurses by surprise as well since they pretty much didn’t do anything but try to keep standing as Brick shoved them off into a corner.  The way the big guy moved, made my heart jump.</p><p>“Alright, Princess,” Lucius said to me, and again I jumped, “Time to find the stuff.”  He walked off down one aisle of shelves and racking.</p><p>Once I’d caught my breath I chose another aisle and started down it, taking slow steps and looking left and right for the cryosec stuff.  I guess I got lucky as I saw it, most of the way down on the left.  “Got it!” I called out.  There were about a dozen cases, and one of them was opened.  Pulling it open I counted seven bottles inside.</p><p>“<em>I got the security feeds taken care of, but you guys better hurry up.</em>” Roland announced, sounding a bit agitated.  “<em>Sounds like some serious shit’s going on outside.  Two ambulances just pulled up and there’s a few cop cars just outside.</em>”</p><p>“Right, we gotta hurry.” Lucius said, wheeling the dolly over like it was nothing.  “Leave the cases and put the vials inside.”  When he spotted the one that I was looking in he added, “Leave that one behind.  We’ll just take the full ones.”</p><p>Um, okay.  I guess…</p><p>And okay, Brick had been a good actor.  The boxes on the dolly were completely empty, and starting with the bottom most box I started filling it with bottles of cryosec.  The full cases had a dozen bottles each, and there were truly a dozen full cases besides the opened thirteenth one that was shoved aside.  While I was doing that Lucius brought over three more cases of bottles.  I was about halfway done when he’d brought over two more, grabbed an empty box, and started loading it up with what he’d gathered.</p><p>“Payment for the ride.” he explained when I gave him a look.  “And hopefully a little extra to boot.”</p><p>Together the two of us filled all seven empty boxes that we’d brought in.  Four of them alone took up all the cryosec we were taking, thirty bottles of each crammed into them.  The other three were filled with more drugs that Lucius had plundered from the shelves.</p><p>“<em>Hope you can think of something,</em>” Roland said over our chat, “<em>because the shit’s hit the fan.</em>”</p><p>“C’mon, let’s go.” Lucius said as we loaded up the last box on the dolly.  “We’re loaded up.”</p><p>I saw Brick come around the corner.  I couldn’t see the nurses anywhere.  “Where are…” I started to ask.</p><p>“Tied up.” Brick answered.</p><p>Lucius led the way back out, and we’d just gotten out into the hallway when a man yelled, “Make way!”  We had to hustle across the hallway, nearly plastering myself against one of the elevator doors that were there, to get out of the way of some medics and people pushing a gurney with a man lying on it.  My heart started jumping about when I saw two armed and armored men following close behind, one in a DocWagon uniform and the other in PeubSec, the sector’s law enforcement company.  I really thought the gig was up, but the PuebSec officer kept right behind the gurney as it was wheeled into one of those emergency surgery rooms we’d passed.</p><p>I was just peeling myself off of the elevator door when someone asked, “What’s your business here?”  I think I cleared a meter when I jumped, spinning around to see two other PuebSec officers now standing right by us.  Both were human, male, and I don’t care what people say, a uniform doesn’t automatically make you handsome.</p><p>“Whoa, what’s with all the excitement?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“Couple prisoners tried to make a break for it.” the other officer answered.</p><p>“And why’re you here?” the first asked.</p><p>“Just leaving, really.” Lucius answered, “Swift Transport.  Dropped off some supplies.”</p><p>The officer grilling us kept giving me a stink eye, looking me up and down, especially at my hip where my gun was.  His partner, just behind him, seemed more content to keep his gaze bouncing around.  I was really hoping my fake ID and all would hold up if he decided to check me out, that way.</p><p>“Alright.” the lead officer finally said, “Just take it careful back out.  Don’t want to give these guys another chance to escape.  Straight to the elevators and out.”</p><p>“Yes sir.” Lucius replied, actually saluting the officer.</p><p>Honestly I was kinda curious about what was going on in the active emergency rooms as we went past, but not enough to want to try peeking in the doors with armed guards standing outside.  I really didn’t want any of them to stop us to have a chat when all I really wanted was to be out of here right now.  I was really happy when the elevator that brought us up was still at this floor to take us back down.  It was pretty much smooth sailing to get to the garage after that.</p><p>“Hey, what’s all the commotion about?” Mr. Bocard asked as we walked into the garage.</p><p>Lucius quickened his pace to get right up to the old man.  “Prison break.” he said, “Looked like a couple of guys got shot up or something trying to break out of jail.”</p><p>Brick and I kept right on walking by, clued in by Lucius discretely waving a hand behind his back for us.</p><p>“That why there were those other sirens?” Mr. Bocard asked.</p><p>The two continued to talk as Brick and I made our way around the other side of the truck, out of Mr. Bocard’s view.  I opened up a back door and held it for Brick so he could climb up into the back of the truck before hefting up the loaded dolly.  Once he had that set aside he offered a hand for me, and while I pondered accepting it or just hopping the short distance up myself I went ahead and took his hand.  It was like I didn’t weigh a thing when he pulled, lifting me up off the ground as easily as I could pick up an empty can of soda or beer.  I was just getting into my seat, securing the seat belt, by the time Lucius was climbing into the driver’s seat.</p><p>It wasn’t until we were past the main gate, out on the street and that little bit of pressure was gone that I realized just how tense my whole body had been, feeling that sudden relaxation as Lucius drove us off into the night.</p><p>“<em>Gonna cut you off from the chat.</em>” Roland told us.  I noticed the mini-map ARO was already gone.  “<em>Give me a bit to clean up here, then we’ll meet up with you before heading off to the doc’s place.</em>”  And with that the TalkTime chat was closed.</p><p>“You feeling alright?” Lucius asked me.</p><p>“Huh?  Oh, yeah.  I guess.” I said, stammering for an answer.</p><p>“You really got tense a few times back there.  You really need to learn to control that, to relax.” Lucius told me.</p><p>“Still not sure about this… stuff.” I confessed.</p><p>“It’s our seventh job, and you’re still not sure?” Lucius asked.  “Anyway, getting nervous like that when something happens is a good way to get us outted at least, if not shot.  Calm, relaxed, confident.  You’d be amazed at how well you can bullshit someone when you’re projecting that confidence.”</p><p>“Seriously?” I asked, turning away from the view of the street to look at Lucius.</p><p>“Try watching some of those live action crime trids.” Lucius suggested, “Cops, Street Beat, Highway Patrol Chases, you know.  Watch how the criminals act when they’re caught, pulled over, or whatever.  It ain’t a guarantee, but just pay attention to how they act.  Bet you’ll find it interesting.”</p><p>Kyle wasn’t immediately there when we pulled into the factory parking lot again.  We sat there, waiting.  It seemed like an eternity before Roland showed up, and as we were unloading our stuff from the back of the borrowed truck Kyle finally showed up.</p><p>“You get the stuff?” Kyle asked, eyeballing Lucius.</p><p>“Null sheen, we got it.” Lucius replied.</p><p>I was more than glad to take that uniform jacket off and toss it back inside the truck.  Already relieved of his own, Brick handed me my jacket back.  I gave Kyle a sideways glance, catching him looking at me.  I turned around, giving him a good profile look at me, and the gun that was still at my hip, before putting my jacket on.  Not sure if it made an impression on him, he didn’t like say anything or what, but to me I felt a little better with him knowing I was armed.</p><p>Once Kyle was left with his cut and our haul was loaded in Roland’s van we were off again.</p>
<hr/><p>The same redheaded nurse was at the receptionist’s desk when we got there, looking relieved when we came in, bearing boxes of cryosec.  She led us back to the same conference room where we’d met with Doc Tico a few days ago.  I was glad to set my box down on the table before dropping into one of those uncomfortable plastic chairs to relax and stretch out a little.  She left us there to get Doc Tico.</p><p>We were waiting for maybe a minute or two before we all heard someone outside.</p><p>“You really think I don’t see what you’re doing?” a man asked.</p><p>“I don’t care what you see.  It doesn’t change anything as far as our arrangement is concerned.” Doc Tico sharply snapped back.</p><p>Lucius gestured to the rest of us to keep right where we were.  Honestly I had no plans on interrupting them, though I really didn’t want to be hearing their conversation either.</p><p>“It doesn’t?  Looks to me like you’re trying to give us less.”  Less?  Less what?</p><p>“I’m not trying to give you less, I’m making damn sure I won’t ever give you more.”  Doc Tico sounded pissed off.  More what?  What were they talking about?</p><p>“You think this is going to slow us down?  We see how you’re growing.  You need us.” the other voice growled.</p><p>“There’s this thing called ethics, Argyle.  Maybe you’ve heard of it?  Well I still have it, and I’m not taking things that aren’t mine because you want them.”</p><p>“We’ll see about that.  We’re the only ones that can front you the cash this place needs.  Sooner or later you <em>will</em> beg us for more help, and then you’ll give us everything we ask for.”  Cash?  Was that other guy giving money to Doc Tico for something?</p><p>“Goodbye, Argyle.” Doc Tico very nearly yelled.  I think I heard footsteps stomping off, and then there was silence.</p><p>Doc Tico looked very tired when he finally came into the conference room.  He then looked rather relieved when he saw the five of us and the cases on the table.  He took a step towards the table, one of the cases, but stopped when Lucius held up a hand.</p><p>“Not that this has any bearing on our job,” Lucius said, “but just how badly in debt are you with Tamanous?”</p><p>Who?  Tamanous?  I thought the word was familiar but I couldn’t place it.  I looked to the others, and saw that Brick and Risa were probably as confused as I was but Roland was scowling.</p><p>But Doc Tico sighed, his shoulders slumped and he hung his head a little.  “Not really in debt.” he softly said, “But we do have an arrangement.”</p><p>“Street doc usual?” Lucius asked.</p><p>“And I’m trying to keep it that way.” Doc Tico answered.</p><p>“Arrangement?  Usual?” I asked.</p><p>“Our good doc here sells body parts to Tamanous.” Roland said, “Organleggers.  And they sell to ghouls.”</p><p>Okay, I really wanted to throw up right now.  It didn’t take me long to piece it all together now, and thinking that Doc Tico would sell to monsters really made me sick.</p><p>“But please understand that I’m not doing it because I want to.” Doc Tico said, “I do sell the medical waste, organs that gangers or runners have replaced.”</p><p>“And they’re pressuring you for more.” Lucius added.</p><p>“Yes.” Doc Tico sighed.</p><p>Lucius looked at me first before looking to the others.  “It’s not all that uncommon, really.” he said, “A lot of street docs who can do cybernetic replacements will take those discarded organs and whatnot and sell them to Tamanous.  Sometimes those organs go elsewhere, bought for transplants.”</p><p>“Mostly they’re sold to ghouls for food.” Roland added.</p><p>“And it’s why I need the cryosec.” Doc Tico said, “It’ll help me save lives.”</p><p>“And charge more to those who do need it.” Lucius added.</p><p>Doc Tico said nothing, but with a grim face he nodded.</p><p>Lucius sighed.  “Honestly we’re not here to judge you or anything.  It’s not like it’s a nice world out there, all sunshine and rainbows.  If this gets you the money to keep Tamanous off your back a bit, then okay.”</p><p>“Means we ain’t gonna rat him out.” Roland added, “None of us have to like it.”</p><p>“Just as long…  As long as it’s only what’s necessary.” I said, trying to come to grips with this.</p><p>“That’s all I ask, all I’m trying to do.” Doc Tico said.</p><p>When it looked like we were all in agreement, Doc Tico finally walked over to the table and pulled out a vial of cryosec.  After counting up all the vials he pulled out his commlink and started fiddling with it.  Ultimately we weren’t paid four thousand nuyen, and an even cut of the extra drugs we got we all got a share of eighty-four hundred nuyen.  Doc Tico explained he’d be able to sell the excess to other street doctors, spread the meds around to others who’d be able to use it as well.  Made me feel a little better about the whole job and all.</p><p>At least, I hoped it did, I thought to myself as I rode in Roland’s van on our way back to the garage.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I do like some of the splat books, the material that adds a little color and depth to the setting.  The No Future book lists the program Space Fleet, pretty much a direct ripoff of Star Trek.</p><p>A sometimes otherwise difficult part to me is creating something in setting that isn't canon, or alluding to something real to put into setting that may or may not be canon (believe it or not, the Harry Potter novels are canon in Shadowrun).  In this case my allusion to Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex, for those who haven't seen the series and get the reference about body swapping with a geisha robot.</p><p>Compared to my first version, the method of breaking into the DocWagon facility is completely different.  First time, maybe a bit more unrealistically, the main character simply hacked in to create a patient record and it was a social bluff to get into the facility.  A much faster job, in and out, and all done in the same night.  Felt a little harder this time, trying to figure out a different hole to be used in the security for part of the team to exploit.</p>
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